Planning Policy

: I believe that my constituents genuinely feel that Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Tesco and Marks and Spencer have been of real benefit. Retail prices have come down overall, and the range of food and goods in the shops has increased as a consequence of their presence. I shall not take up the time of the House, but there was an article in The Economist only last week that demonstrated that to be the case. The number of people using supermarkets each Saturday and Sunday is a testament to their popularity, and I do not think that we should blame them for the ills of town centres. Shops will continue to prosper in historic town centres, but the amount of retail activity over the past 20 years has not expanded at the rate of expansion in the size and scale of supermarkets. Therefore, with the best will in the world, some shops in historic town centres will no longer be viable. One can see the result of market forces in the voids on Banbury High street and Parsons street, and in the number of shops for which the only use is as charity shops. Charity shops perform a useful function in recycling goods and raising money for charities, but that is not a long-term future. We must work out how to make such areas viable again, and turning some of the buildings back into residential accommodation for the frail, the elderly, young people and people who find it useful and beneficial to live in a town centre would be a good way to do that. One sees that in towns and cities in France and elsewhere in Europe, and I see no reason why it could not be done in the UK. We must work out how the planning system can help to reinvigorate town centres, and blaming the supermarkets will not help us do that. We must acknowledge that we need to go with the grain of market forces in reinvigorating and reviving historic centres of market towns, to meet society's needs, in particular needs for housing and other activities. We must also take measures to protect historic buildings and working organisations such as civic societies.