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Shop shutters might slam permanently if business rates are put up too soon, a commerce boss has warned.
John Angell, chairman of the traders' group Dover Town Team, fears rates will return to 100% next spring after discounts and amnesties during the pandemic lockdowns.
He feared the Government would see the high street as one of the major tax providers for the economy.
He stressed: “The only sound that will greet them is the further slamming of shutters as more business premises decide enough is enough.
"They must take a different view of town centres perhaps looking at them as development areas to try to encourage those starting in business.
"That is why regeneration programmes like the Market Square are essential.”
The £3.6 million revamping of the square begins next month.
Mr Angell was speaking at the group's first in-person annual meeting since the pandemic.
He told his audience, at the Dover Dover Marina Hotel and Spa on Monday: “As with any large project, there will always be aspects of the scheme that some will look at and say ’I don’t like that.’
"But you have to think what will be the attraction of town centres for the next 20 to 30 years- and it is certainly not what we have had for the last 20 years as the many empty premises show us.
“This is a chance for Dover to start looking forward.”
"Coronavirus has shown us the acceleration in change in town centres."
Mr Angell emphasised the importance of activities and features to draw people in.
He believes the use of a performing space for a whole variety of functions, and having an illuminated water mist feature, which he said would be modern and different from anywhere else, would do this.
The water feature is a key element of the Market Square revamp.
He added: “One thing coronavirus has shown us all is the acceleration in change in town centres - there has been a complete change in peoples shopping habits and a dramatic reduction in footfall."
He said town centres needed activity, which was why it was essential to to reopen the square's market stalls again.
The new-look Market Square will also have new paving, seating, lighting and planting as well as improving links between Cannon Street, St James' Retail and Leisure Park and the waterfront.
The project is funded by £2.44 million from the Coastal Communities Fund, secured by the Dover Town Team, and £1.2 million from Dover District Council. Dover Town Council has also contributed to the project.
Construction is expected to take nine months with completion next summer.
Last March Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the Government would continue to provide eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England with 100% business rates relief from this April to June.
This would be followed by 66% business rates relief rom this July 1 to March 31, 2022.
