A concerned city leader says councils should have the power to seize the ‘worst’ buildings if they are left to fall into decay as complaints continue about the poor state of Worcester.
Cllr Louis Stephen believes councils like Worcester City Council should be given powers to seize buildings in the city centre which have been allowed to fall into poor condition – but says council underfunding remains a challenge.
His comments following ongoing concerns raised by the Worcester News to ‘save the city centre’, highlighted initially by Phil Douce, president of Worcester Civic Society and a former chairman of the organisation.
Mr Douce has previously emphasised the worsening condition of the city centre, including the High Street, from graffiti tags and proliferating weeds to broken windows, grime and and empty shops, likening the appearance of the city to ‘a slum’.
UNSIGHTLY: Graffiti looking towards Worcester Cathedral, close to the Commandery in Sidbury (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)
Recently his concerns were echoed by 10 former Worcester mayors who want Worcester MP Tom Collins to lobby the government for change, saying Worcester City Council is currently “powerless” to improve the situation.
The former mayors to call for change are David Clark, Margaret Leyland, Robert Rowden, Gareth Jones, Stephen Inman, Lucy Hodgson, David Tibbutt, Alan Amos, Roger Knight and Stephen Hodgson.
Cllr Louis Stephen, a Green Party city councillor for Battenhall Ward and St Peter Division and county councillor for St Peter’s, has added own voice to the chorus of concern.
He said: “There are no simple answers. To tackle the problems of city centres we need to look at the real root causes of empty shops and the increasing levels of rough sleeping in shop fronts and alleyways.
GRIM: Graffiti near Worcester High Street in Worcester (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)
“Worcester is not the worst place but we must not be complacent. Scruffy buildings, like the old Co-op on Angel Street, happen for a variety of reasons.”
However, Cllr Stephen argues councils are also ‘underfunded’ and ‘so can’t spend as much time on enforcement as they should’, explaining it is ‘hard and difficult to force a disinterested landlord to do anything about it’.
Areas of particular concern include Angel Street where the derelict Co-op and Cricketers are now daubed in graffiti. These eyesore buildings are not far from the Scala which is undergoing a major regeneration project to create a new arts centre. But some, including Mr Douce, have challenged the utility of the multi-million pound project if the buildings almost directly opposite are in such a poor state – and so near the bus station which is often the first impression visitors form of the city centre.
SAD: Former mayor David Clark is frustrated by the number of empty buildings in Worcester city centre (Image: Phil Wilkinson-Jones/LDRS)
Cllr Stephen added: “Councils do not have the powers they need, in the worst cases they should be able to seize buildings that are not being maintained.
“Business rates are a much bigger cost for a shop than an online warehouse – rates should be cut for high street businesses and taxes increased on online businesses to reflect this.
“We’ve created an uneven playing field. Shops can’t compete with online shops, so they shut.”
Cllr Stephen also responded to the Government’s aim to get every rough sleeper off the streets by Christmas.
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“I hope they do but I fear that in the longer term it’s yet again a sticking plaster over much bigger root cause problems.
“We do well on temporary accommodation, but where are the homes for people to move into from there?” he said.
He added: “Sometimes social housing is provided away from Worcester, away from people’s support networks. The free market has failed, fundamentally we need to build a lot more council homes. But even building more council homes is not enough.
“We also need to tackle the insecurity of renting and the precarious nature that many experience in the workplace. Some employers abuse their positions, the current prediction is that employment tribunals now take up to 5 years to be heard.
“The number of homeless people across the country is going up, lots of people are struggling with rising costs.”
