The Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Howard Sykes, has endorsed the recent comments of his party colleague, Cllr Gerald Vernon Jackson, Leader of the LGA Liberal Democrats, who welcomed a new announcement that will enable councils to keep a lid on the numbers of payday loan companies or betting shops allowed to open.
Commenting Cllr Sykes said: “The Oldham Liberal Democrats have been at the forefront of the battle to combat the spread of payday loan companies and betting shops. These lead to the impoverishment of already poor individuals. We have raised this issue in Council and with Government, and I am pleased that pressure from ourselves and fellow Liberal Democrats across the country will now lead to the introduction of new regulations that will place new curbs on payday loan companies and betting shops.
Cllr Vernon Jackson said: “Councils and their communities have repeatedly called for powers to tackle problems caused by the proliferation of betting shops and pay day loan companies. We are pleased the Government has acted on the concerns expressed both by the LGA and Liberal Democrat Councillors. Putting bookmakers in a new planning class will rightly ensure councils can consider and scrutinise all applications for new betting shops. However, this will not help areas with existing clustering of betting shops as it will still allow a rival betting company to simply take over a vacant betting or payday loan ship without needing planning permission.
“This is why councils ultimately need much greater local discretion to shape their high streets and help stimulate local economic growth. The introduction of a new cumulative impact test would rightly give councils the power to also veto new shops in areas already saturated by betting shops if firms can’t prove a new shop would benefit the local economy.
“Communities need more say on what type of businesses and shops open in their local area. This is vital in getting people back out shopping in their local high street or town centre”.