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Government earmarks £2.4m for plan to boost centres

BBC Ramsey high street, with two rows of shops including an opticians, a tattoo parlour and a pharmacy. Red Manx flags are dotted along the street above the shops. The tarmac of the road separating the rows is red, and cars are parked along the right-hand side of the street.BBC
The plan aims to fill empty shops across the island by 10% year on year

A 10-year plan to boost footfall in Manx town centres and fill empty shops on high streets will be supported by £2.4m in funding, if it receives Tynwald support.

The Local Economy Strategy, which sets out 20 goals to support retail, leisure and hospitality sectors, will be brought before the January sitting of the Manx Parliament.

Department for Enterprise minister Tim Johnston said the investment was "based on community-led decision making and the empowerment of local authorities".

The Town and Village Regeneration Scheme, which closed to new applicants in March 2023, is also set to be relaunched to support the delivery of the strategy.

The scheme, which would provide funds to enhance exteriors and interiors could "stimulate significant improvements in commercial units", a department spokeswoman said.

The new £2.4m fund has been provisionally approved from the Economic Strategy Fund.

'De-risk'

Developed by Business Isle of Man, an executive agency within the department, targets include reducing vacancy rates for empty shops across the island by 10% year on year and also increasing footfall in Douglas and seven town and villages by 10%.

Actions set out in the plan include working with local authorities to fill underutilised spaces, making upper floors in high-street properties "more usable" and improving the appearance of vacant premises.

The strategy's progress will be monitored using new footfall counters in towns and and regular audits will assess vacancy rates.

The document also proposes extending and broadening the Domestic Event Fund, which supports organisers of new events with up to 80% of the costs, to "stimulate, catalyse and de-risk events that increase high street footfall".

Johnston said the investment in the islands' economy was "a call to action" for commissioners, businesses, and residents to "work towards the vision they have for their communities, and for the government to show equal dedication to facilitating their efforts".

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