Britain’s high streets are slipping into a state of decline, with residents in multiple towns telling GB News that their ailing shopping districts have “nothing left” and warning that a lack of social cohesion is rising.
From Hull to Southend-on-Sea, residents are calling for more investment and support for local shops as town centres feel the sting of the cost of living crisis.
However, last month, Labour announced its Pride in Place fund to support 339 communities with 169 areas getting £2million every year for a decade, while a further 95 places will get a one-off payment of £1.5million.
Sir Keir Starmer hailed the funding as “backing the true patriots”, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves said it “cuts through the bureaucracy by giving local people the power to deliver the change they want to see”.
The plans were welcomed by the Chair of the Local Government Association’s Neighbourhoods Committee Arooj Shah, who stressed that while the plans will be “revitalising high streets and shaping their communities”, he said it needed to be allocated “in a fair, flexible manner based on what local places need”.
Director of Futures West Andrea Dell told GB News: “We welcome the funding for two areas of the region that have long suffered from under investment and poor connectivity, it is critical that local businesses are able to engage in the process with local residents to ensure the money results in positive outcomes for those communities.”
Among the neighbourhoods chosen to receive support were Shoeburyness in Southend-on-Sea and Laindon in Basildon.
GB News spoke to multiple residents in these towns to see what they had to say about the funding.
Right inside Laindon railway station building is Eden’s Florist.
Owner Ella Saunders, who was getting ready for the business to relocate, told GB News: “Well, it’s nice to know they’re putting money into the businesses here. We need more investment in shops in the area, definitely. It’s quite an industrial part of the region.
“Over the last year, it has definitely been a lot quieter in business terms. A lot of people who live in London are moving down this way.”
Just down the road, Sophie Mills added: “I think just anything will be good for the area. I think it really needs it.”
Another resident, Anna, said: “I don’t really know what any investment would look like. Seems like the sort of thing Labour want to do to sweeten voters.”
Councillor Gavin Callaghan, leader of Basildon Council, said: “For too long, too many parts of our borough have been left behind. Broken pavements, tired estates, and community centres that have seen better days.
“People are fed up with promises and want to see action. This money changes the game. Every pound will be spent on things you can see and feel when you walk out your front door. That’s what residents deserve.”
Just down the road in Shoeburyness, residents were a little more split on the idea.
Lee Fox said: “I think with that £2million, any sort of investment is needed. I’ve lived here all my life, so I would like to see something.”
David Haydon, 67, said: “I think it’s a very good thing for the town. We’re on a mainline to London, and you get a lovely view across the beach. People do like being here.
“That being said, I am not convinced any amount of money is enough to sort it out, but it is hopefully a good thing.
“The biggest problem is the boat people. Shoebury needs a little more attention. Compared to Southend, it just feels like a little bit of an afterthought.”
Sue Milton added: “I mean, I think it needs it, but I don’t know how it will come through. I want to see what it actually looks like.”
Ann Waller said: “Well, it’s about time. I was down here on Saturday morning, and there was a load of men running a youth club playing football. I just thought ‘that’s brilliant’.
“I think too much has shut down. When my kids were little, we had a youth centre that you could send them to for £1 a day. Now there’s just nothing.
“I used to volunteer when I was much younger, and you felt like you were encouraging the kids to do something for society.”
Others expressed more scepticism.
Paul Munns added: “It’s like any of their promises. I’ll believe it when I see it. You look out there and see the beach. It is such a jewel. One of the most beautiful places in the country.
“Shoebury is so nice it needs to be looked after.”
Other residents in Shoebury expressed concerns about new houses being built on the site.
John Swanse said: “Our seat [Southend East and Rochford] has elected our first Labour MP, and he never answers anything. We’re building 3,000 new houses but there’s no infrastructure. No doctors and no schools.”
One resident, only identified as Linda, said: “£20million is bugger all. They’re about to dump 10,000 houses on here. You can’t do that, the infrastructure is not there.”
Reform UK Councillor for the Shoeburyness ward, Judith McMahon, echoed the concerns about the new housebuilding.
Councillor McMahon told GB News: “Of course, any councillor is going to welcome monies into the city, especially when the ward they represent is a beneficiary.
“I must admit to being somewhat surprised that Shoebury is the recipient when there are more deprived areas of this city.”
Shoebury is one of the towns set to receive the funding
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Homes are currently being built on the former Ministry of Defence-owned site in Campfield Road, which was granted planning permission for 70 homes in 2023.
Giving her take, Councillor McMahon questioned whether the money was a distraction to keep Labour in power.
She added: “I have to ask myself why in an area that is not the most deprived area in the City, where these actual areas of indices of deprivation are highest, have not been awarded this funding.
“So it begs the question whether this money is actually part of devolution dressed up to be a magnanimous gesture on behalf of the Labour PR machine, attempting to give a 10-year reason to perceive Labour as benevolent to a community.
“This community has most recently been negatively impacted by local Labour and Government plans to build 10,000 houses on the Greenbelt adjacent to Shoebury, along with the proposal to swallow up all of the surrounding rural vista with a new town.
“This is not money from the Government, it is taxpayers’ money and as the city almost went bankrupt and is still in perilous financial straits.”
Labour leader of Southend Council, Daniel Cowan, said the funding was “really significant additional investment”.
Councillor Daniel Cowan added: “An extra £20million for Shoeburyness, directed by the people of Shoeburyness. That’s the Labour difference.
“No one in Westminster knows Shoebury better than the families and businesses who call Shoebury home. That’s why this funding will make such a difference.”
Much of Laindon remains under construction
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GB NEWS
On the other side of the country, in Hull and East Yorkshire, six areas are each getting up to £20million in Government funding to spend over the next 10 years.
This includes Hessle Road, where residents told GB News they had seen the area become “dead” in recent years.
Anthony said: “It’s got a heritage, one jewellery shop here has been open for 150 years, but the area has changed.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as some towns and cities, you still have got your local shops, but there is definitely a decline and a separation between different peoples and religions.”
Tony has lived in the area for 22 years and told GB News he thinks it has gone “downhill”.
He added: “Now it’s just dead, there’s no people about. We need investment that can attract people in, now it’s attracting people out and that’s what we don’t need on Hessle Road.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “For too long, people have watched their towns and streets decline, powerless to stop boarded-up shops and neglected parks. That ends now.
“We’re investing in the UK’s future, by backing the true patriots that build our communities up in neighbourhoods across every corner of the country. Because it’s people who bring pride, hope and life to our communities.
“This is a huge investment, but what matters most is who decides how it’s spent: the neighbours, volunteers and parents who know their communities best, the people with real skin in the game.
“We’re choosing renewal over decline, unity over division. This is our Plan for Change in action, giving power and pride back to the people who make Britain great.”
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, said: “Building pride in place starts with people, not politics.
“Local people know what they want to see in their neighbourhoods and they don’t need Government to dictate it.
“This plan will spark a historic grassroots movement that will restore local people’s power, boost national pride and help people get on in life across the UK as part of our Plan for Change.”