Northampton MP tells Reform-led WNC it 'cannot ignore' spread of vape and betting shops as leader hits back
Labour MP says council cannot ‘continue to ignore’ the issue as Reform leader blames previous governments for high street issues
Northampton South MP Mike Reader has called on Reform-led West Northamptonshire Council to do more to tackle the spread of vape shops and gambling premises across Northampton.
The Labour MP spoke out after the Government announced that, from the new year, vape shops and adult gaming centres will need planning permission. Councils will also get powers to stop vape shops opening near schools and to prevent shops clustering in the high street.
Mr Reader said the new powers would mean WNC could "no longer ignore the issue".
In response, the leader of WNC, Councillor Mark Arnull said high streets were victims of the "political failure" of both Conservative and Labour governments and said high streets needed "lower taxes, less red tape and safer and well-policed town centres".
Mr Reader welcomed the government plans to tackle vape shops and gambling premises.Ministers will also consult on scrapping the "aim to permit" rule in the Gambling Act 2005, which currently limits councils' ability to refuse new betting shop applications, and will double the maximum length of closure orders from six to twelve months, giving police and local authorities more time to shut down premises linked to organised crime.
He said the announcement followed "growing concern in Northampton town centre, where a string of 24-hour vape and convenience stores has opened in recent years, and where trading standards and police have carried out repeated raids on shops selling illegal high-strength vapes on roads including Wellingborough Road and Abington Square".
Mike Reader said: “People in Northampton South tell me all the time that they're fed up watching the high street fill up with vape shops and betting shops while the businesses they actually want to see just aren't coming forward.”
“Reform-run West Northamptonshire Council takes no action to tackle this scourge. We're giving them the powers to act so they can no longer ignore the issue. This isn't about shutting down legitimate businesses. It's about giving local people and the council a proper say over what our high street looks like, and the tools to deal with the shops that are dragging it down.”
“There's more to come as we turn around our town centre and shopping promenades across the town, but this is a real, practical next step.”
Councillor Arnull said the high streets were not victims of bad luck.
"They are victims of political failure. For decades, both Conservative and Labour governments alike have piled costs onto small businesses, strangled enterprise with bureaucracy and stood back while town centres emptied out. The boarded-up shops and declining footfall we see today are the consequences of decisions made in Westminster by politicians who have long since stopped understanding the communities they claim to represent.
"Even now, Labour MPs such as Mike Reader seem content to walk around with their eyes shut, pretending everything is heading in the right direction. It is not. Residents can see the reality for themselves: shuttered businesses, fewer independent retailers and town centres struggling to retain their identity. Yet instead of confronting the bigger problem, Westminster politicians offer warm words and another round of excuses. The public are expected to ignore what is happening right in front of them."
Our high streets need lower taxes, less red tape, safer and well-policed town centres and above all, a government that backs local businesses instead of burdening them."