Prime Minister is invited to pay visit to Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski issued his invitation to Theresa May at a meeting before the House of Commons broke for the summer recess.

He said: "I asked the Prime Minister if she would consider coming to Shrewsbury to see for herself the effect increases are having on the high street.

"She needs to get out there into the county towns where there is a toxic combination of increases that are putting real pressure on small retailers. She needs to come to Shrewsbury to see what is happening.

"If the Conservatives are anything, they understand the economy. Shrewsbury is symbolic of what many other county towns are experiencing on their high streets."

Earlier this week Mr Kawczynski met two campaigners fighting to improve the economic situation in Shrewsbury.

On Tuesday he brought together Gwen Burgess of Darwin's Cafe and Facebook action group Highstevolution with the leader of Shropshire Council, Councillor Peter Nutting and Councillor Steve Davenport, portfolio holder for highways and transport.

"Gwen is very eloquent and reasonable and a great spokeswoman for Highstevolution," said Mr Kawczynski.

"She had about an hour long meeting with them both and the upshot of that was that the council said it will engage with her group.

"The council's communications team need to do more to explain the council's stance on issues. On the issue of car parking charges Gwen will continue to monitor the impact these proposals have on business in the town and engage with the council in the future.

Dialogue

"The council have some very good long term plans and I hope there will be good dialogue between Highstevolution and the council. There has got to be much more communication going forward."

Mr Kawczynski also met with Jeff Anderson, from Bodytech Gym in Mardol, who voiced his concerns over the state of the high street and the effects that rises in business rates will have on the local economy.

"He wanted to know what Shropshire Council is doing directly to take on suggestions to help the town," said Mr Kawczynski.

"There is a very strange combination of problems that are affecting Shrewsbury - the work on Pride Hill, business rates and the parking proposals."

On the matter of Pride Hill, Mr Kawczynski has held a number of conversations with Chris Casey, managing director of the company contracted by Shropshire Council to undertake the revamp of the shopping street.

"He has told me that work will be completed by mid-November," said Mr Kawczynski. "However, I am not confident that the work will be completed on time. I am monitoring this very closely and have a meeting arranged for the first week in September with Mr Casey."