Our high streets are the centre of our communities; we need to make sure our town centres in both Whitby and Scarborough are attractive places that people want to spend time in. Shopping in the 21st century has changed and the businesses and opportunities that exist on our high streets must reflect that. I will work with local businesses, Keane Duncan, our Conservative Mayoral candidate for North Yorkshire, and North Yorkshire Council to breathe new life into our town centres and turn them round for the better.
I will be campaigning to improve public spaces to make them pleasant places for people to visit, to drive out antisocial behaviour which puts people off coming into town and to tackle empty buildings by attracting new businesses. I will be pushing for more funding to improve the Scarborough Station Gateway and support the local community to decide the future of the Argos building site. I will work to ensure that the town centre in Whitby is a place with opportunities for both local families to live and work alongside our tourist economy so that our high streets are places that we can all enjoy.