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We have done really well, here in Wyre Forest, from government assistance. Frankly, quite right too.
I have argued for many years that Kidderminster, in particular, has been very hard done by. Go back 40 years and 25,000 people worked in the carpet industry. Today it is just a handful. We lost out to the EU – cheap Belgian imports did for our local industry. But had we been a steel town, or a mining community, we would have had help years ago. But we were the one town that relied, almost exclusively, on carpets. So when the UK carpet industry collapsed, no-one noticed, or helped.
Of course, since then, other industries have come to the area. We have a lot of automotive supply chain activity and a range of others. But we need to attract more private sector investment and to do that, we need a welcoming district. In the last few years, we have seen a lot of government investment in Kidderminster. The old magistrate court is to be a creative hub with exciting covered outside spaces and a new garden as a gateway to the town centre. The Town Hall will be one of the finest performing arts hubs in the region. The old Woolworths site has been cleared for an open space linking the town centre with the old glades site (itself replaced by a fantastic new leisure centre on Silverwoods). Crown House, the second ugliest building in England, is gone, to be replaced by a new town centre attraction. The Piano Building is to be repurposed as a food and drink hub, with offices in its upper floors. And this week, we get an announcement that Kidderminster is set to receive a further £20 million fund, the use of which is to be decided by the community.
We should never under-estimate this type of investment. Aside from making the town more attractive to come into, opening opportunity to all sorts of businesses taking advantage of visitors, it also creates a sense of prosperity that attracts private investment.
Since 2010, when I was first elected, we have seen a major spectacle retailer invest in two factories producing around half of their substantial output. Many other, smaller, business have come to the area too. The biggest complaint I hear is that there aren’t enough people to fill local vacancies.
But all out towns have benefited from investment as well. Bewdley has seen St Georges Hall refurbished and St Anne’s Church is receive a makeover soon. And we have the flood defences going in.
Stourport has just received nearly a £million to remove the old library and fire station to create a development opportunity. And there are a number of sites in the town centre that are being developed.
Make no mistake, happy as I am that this is happening, we need to continue to secure investment locally. That’s why I am committed to build on this good start.