Five-point action plan for Fife's town centres

The doors to more and more businesses are about to re-open - but our town centre still faces a challenging future.

As lockdown restrictions ease, retailers are having to come to terms with new ways of working, and concerns that the move online has escalated significantly in recent months.

This week saw the Scottish Government open applications to a £1m funding stream to help towns get back up and running.

And it also saw Scottish Tories publish their own five-point action plan for our High Street.

It wants to see a Town Centre Coronavirus Plan to help stop closures and potential bankruptcies in the Kingdom and across Scotland as a whole.

For Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Fife and Scotland, that resonates strongly in Kirkcaldy where there has been an on-going debate over the future of our High Street.

His party wants the Scottish Government to consider measures including:A major “buy local” campaign organised by the Scottish Government urging Scots to back local high streets.Law changes relaxing rules on pavement eating and drinking.Temporary scrapping of parking charges to encourage shoppers to come out.Introduction of scrapping schemes to boost spending.Review of the two- metre rule in social distancing.

Mr Stewart, who is deputy chief whip of the party at Holyrood, highlighted research from support charity Social Investment Business and journalism website, Tortoise, which showed spending data from debit cards in Scotland has fallen by 37 per cent overall, only offset somewhat by a rise in grocery spending, saying:

He said: “Around Fife since the end of March spending has slumped considerably when compared with last year and there is no doubt that we are now facing an economic emergency, on top of the Covid-19 health emergency.

“Every decision that the people across Fife take over the coming weeks, from spending money in local stores, supporting locally run cafes, and paying for local traders to fix household appliances, might be the difference between people joining the job queue at Christmas, or staying on track to further their career.

“Town centres here have been badly hit in recent months and the SNP Government needs to lead the way in coming up with a rescue plan for them.”

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Mr Stewart believes measures such as encouraging everyone to buy local, relaxing laws on outdoor eating and drinking, scrapping parking charges and an on-going review of the 2 metre social distancing review are just some of the practical ways the Scottish Government could give our high streets a boost.

He added: “The SNP Government must use its powers to act now. Without radical action, we risk plunging Scotland into the deepest economic depression of modern times.

“That would leave lasting and incalculable damage on the life changes of the young and the poorest in our society.

“As we ease lockdown measures hopefully in the coming weeks, I will certainly be encouraging everyone in my regions to buy locally.”

Monday saw the Scottish Government’s £1 million funding stream open for applications.

It can offer support for a range of initiatives, including physical distancing, the supply or installation of distancing markers, ‘Open for Business’ maps or directories made available via local media and online portals; digital markets, e-commerce platforms and apps and activities to help local authorities maintain and manage public spaces.

The fund is open to local authorities and constituted groups,