Residents are set to be given the power to block “unwanted” new businesses in a major reform to town planning.
Under new Government proposals, locals will have the power to block enterprises like Turkish barbers and vape shops from cropping up in their areas.
The plans will also see residents given the ability to control the number of any particular type of business operating within their towns.
The move has been led by new Communities Secretary Steve Reed as Labour grasps with Reform UK’s surge in the polls.
Under the proposals, locals will have the power to block Turkish barbers and vape shops from cropping up in their areas (file photo)
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GETTY
Mr Reed told The Telegraph: “The country is not working for far too many people who are in it, people and regions are not sharing in Britain’s prosperity equally.
“We’ve got a lot of communities that feel they don’t have a voice.
“They’ve been ignored, they’ve been left behind and they’re not getting any investment.
“This is about supporting those communities to take back control, restore pride in the places where they’re living, and give them the power and resources to make their areas more successful.”
The move has been led by new Communities Secretary Steve Reed
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HOUSE OF COMMONS
The proposals have been brought forward amid data showing that areas with Britain’s most deprived high streets are switching to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in their droves.
A Power to Change report published over the summer discovered that the decline of the Britain’s high streets had played a significant part in the success of Reform UK at the local elections in May.
Mr Reed accused Mr Farage’s party of “weaponising people’s legitimate grievances to try and pull communities apart”.
The Communities Secretary added: “Reform wants to put a stick into those divides and make them wider.
BRITAIN’S HIGH STREETS UNDER THREAT – READ MORE:
Areas with Britain’s most deprived high streets are switching to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK
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PA
“We will build bridges and heal them.
“The way that you do that is by bringing in investment for the whole country, getting economic growth across the whole country, but also giving people in those communities that feel left behind the power they need to change things on their own terms and based on their own experience.”
The plans are set to be announced by Sir Keir Starmer in a speech to the House of Commons on Thursday, which is expected to unveil how the plans will be put in place.
Local authorities are expected to receive greater powers to more rapidly bring boarded-up shops back into use by leasing them to new businesses.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick raised eyebrows earlier this year after he warned that “weird Turkish barber shops” were “chipping away” at British society, along with fare-dodging on public transport.
Mr Jenrick added: “The state needs to reassert itself and go after lawbreakers.”
In 2024, over 750 Turkish barber shops cropped up across Britain, leaving many suspicious they could be a front for money-laundering or other illicit purposes.
Earlier this year, hundreds of these shops were targeted by the National Crime Agency as part of Operation Machinize, which aimed to tackle high street crime.
