Henry Smith, Crawley’s MP, has slammed the Crawley Labour Party in the House of Commons for cancelling town centre regeneration plans and for putting jobs and business growth at risk.
Following his statement condemning Labour’s decision to scrap town regeneration plans to the visible dismay of his parliamentary colleagues, Henry said:
“The Crawley Labour Party’s complete lack of vision and aspiration is jeopardising local jobs and business growth. As the town’s representative, my concern is that Labour’s decision to rip up the regeneration plans and to leave our town’s crumbling architecture stuck in the 1960s will cost us much needed jobs and could drive away local business to other emerging retail hubs such as Horsham.
“Crawley has some of the largest funding reserves in the country – surely this worthy ambition merits the investment which could no doubt be recovered through subsequent additional business rates in due course.”
Echoing Henry’s concerns, the Local Government Minister, Brandon Lewis MP, responded in the House of Commons saying:
“A good town centre shows that real vitality and heartbeat of a community – it’s good for the local authority as well because there is then successful businesses paying business rates, something which the local authority should be keen on.
“With the £1 billion pound package that the Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement….. now many people can celebrate the good town centres that they have got where Labour have not tried to stop [regeneration plans], as they have in Crawley, through the Great British Highstreet’s campaign.”
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