The leader of Wokingham Borough Council has pledged to do more to help Wokingham’s beleaguered retailers.
After meeting with several businesses in recent weeks, Cllr Stephen Conway said he thinks there is more the council can try to do.
Writing in his regular column for Wokingham Today, he said: “The council is already offering support to the local economy in a variety of ways. But since meeting Wokingham shopkeepers recently, I have concluded that there is more we should try to do.
“Given the council’s financial challenges, we need to find low-cost initiatives that can make a difference.
“To this end, I have asked Cllr David Cornish, my executive colleague responsible for business and economic development, to work in partnership with town and parish councils and local businesses to draw up a Town Centre Strategy.
“This will seek to diagnose the nature of the problems, pull together what the council is already doing, and identify what further steps the council could take.
“I envisage this as a strategy that will cover all of our town and village centres, not just Wokingham town.
“We cannot change what is happening nationally to the High Street, but we can work together to decide how best we can address the challenges at a local level.”
