Gregor Poynton

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I congratulate the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) on securing this important debate. I will focus my remarks on Scottish high streets, which should be the beating hearts of our communities, because thriving high streets, and the businesses based there, promote thriving local economies. More than that, they promote a thriving civic culture, a genuine sense of pride among people about the place in which they live and the community that they are part of. Yet, right across Scotland, our high streets and our main streets have seen better days. But the decline of these high streets, main streets and town centres is not inevitable, and communities across Scotland are already taking innovative action to arrest that decline. I will share just one example from my constituency. I recently had the pleasure of visiting West Calder and Harburn Community Development Trust, which is transforming the iconic Central Bakery in West Calder into the Scottish Co-operative discovery and activity centre. It is an incredible £6 million project that will create jobs, investment and training opportunities in the area, and will honour our co-operative roots. A few months ago, I met with the traders from West Calder, and they have a vision for the main street that is about solidarity among their businesses, supporting each other to grow and thrive. Projects and businesspeople such as those demonstrate that, with vision, energy and determination, the decline of our town centres and high streets is far from inevitable—and, more than that, that rejuvenation is possible.