St Ives businesses give mixed reaction to £10,000 facelift scheme
Firms in the town can apply for a £10,000 grant as part of the plans
A new scheme which provides grants of up to £10,000 to help town centres in Huntingdonshire has been launched.
The scheme, launched by Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC), focuses on Huntingdon and St Ives town centres to help support local businesses repair and improve their shopfronts.
It’s an initiative funded by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and delivered by BID Huntingdon First and HDC to encourage more people to shop locally and attract more businesses to the local area.
Richard Annis has run R & M Carpet Interiors in St Ives for 32 years and isn’t a fan of the plans.
“I don’t think that thing to encourage to have shopfronts done will improve business,” he said.
“I think they should put that money to better use by doing up pavements, doing up the town more and generate more of an atmosphere for customers.”
Cllr Sam Wakeford, executive councillor for job, economy and housing at HDC, has backed the plans which he believes can help independent business owners.
Meanwhile, Dr Nik Johnson, mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, believes the proposals will help towns like Huntingdon and St Ives “stay the bustling and beautiful rural centres they've been for hundreds of years.”
Pawel Bursa, of IT After Hours Computer Services on the same street as Richard’s shop, thinks the funding could help improve business in the area.
“We’re currently struggling when talking about business overall; it could help improve our business when talking about the view from the outside,” he said.
“St Ives town centre is beautiful, but we can improve it by having our shopfronts upgraded due to painting and lights.
“But it doesn’t matter how shops will look from the outside; if people don’t have money, it will not improve our business at all.”
All proposals for the scheme need to win planning permission and applications will be reviewed monthly.
Elaine Spence, owner of Star Dancewear & Crafts on Crown Street in St Ives, thinks anything to help imporve the town centre is positive.
“The town does need an improvement on the way it looks; I have customers who say things are not looking great and very disappointed,” she said.
“If we can stop that from happening, that has got to be a good thing because they’ll talk to other people and say St Ives is better now than it was before.
“If more people come into town because they find it more attractive, there’s got to be a positive knock-on effect for all the businesses in St Ives.”