LETTER: Lack of strategy to attract income

It is understood that Horsham District Council wishes to seek more business rate income. However, the articles from councillors on pages 36 and 37 of the County Times of February 6, do not offer a coherent strategy for achieving that.

By The Newsroom

Published 20th Feb 2014, 11:46 BST

All we have seen so far is the allocation of 500,000 sq ft of space in the Local Plan, when we know that global factors are influencing the movement of large companies such as Novartis and RSA.

It is also clear that SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises) continue to increase in numbers and that they may need to be distributed around the district, rather than at one central location, whilst HDC itself has identified around 250,000 sq ft of empty business space in the district.

The big question is that (apart from reducing business rates) how can HDC induce companies to relocate to, or start up in, Horsham District?

Just making land available, clearly does not constitute a strategy.

NEIL WHITEAR

Vice-chairman, UKIP Horsham District, Crawley Road, Horsham