Historic England is asking people in Ealing Southall “What do you love about your local high street?” as the first part of a national conversation on the future of our high streets. Virendra Sharma MP is encouraging people to get involved.
From Monday 20 – Sunday 26 September, the public body is asking people to share what they love about their local high street on social media.
Historic England commissioned YouGov to find out how people are feeling about their local high street. 73% of people said their local high street is important to them, 54% of people feel pessimistic about their local high street’s future and 40% feel motivated to take action to help their high street’s future. And 71% of people said that they feel personal interactions are important when visiting the high street.
New research for Historic England shows that 92% of people care what their high street looks like and 90% agree that it’s worth trying to save historic features when trying to improve local places.
Later in the conversation with the nation about the future of high streets, Historic England will be seeking to find out what people value about their high street and their hopes for its future. Having crowdsourced this information, a programme of discussions and commissions will be created to further explore what high streets could be and look like in the future, all with the aim of empowering people to take action for their local high street.
Virendra Sharma MP said:
“What I love most about Southall Broadway is the people, it still to this day is the heart of our community with people shopping, stopping to talk, having tea or something to eat. I can't walk down Broadway without someone stopping me to talk about something personal or political, it is a living space that exudes energy. Let’s make sure that Historic England hears from Ealing Southall by getting involved.”
