A GOVERNMENT minister has been shown around St Austell as part of moves to gain more support for the town centre.

Noah Law, the Labour MP for the St Austell and Newquay constituency, led a delegation, including Miatta Fahnbulleh, Minister for Devolution, Faith and Local Communities, Cllr James Mustoe and Cllr Sarah Preece, which visited White River Place, Fore Street, Vicarage Place and the old post office on High Cross Street.

During the visit, Mr Law and the minister discussed ways that the various challenges facing St Austell could feed into the government’s wider High Streets Strategy to be launched later this year.

The visit followed lobbying by Mr Law for extra support for town centres and village communities within the constituency. In particular, the MP has written to Communities Secretary Steve Reed requesting support for St Austell town centre and the Clay Country.

Mr Law said: “It was great to welcome Minister Fahnbulleh to our town centre, and to get the opportunity to show her the realities that our towns in Mid-Cornwall face. With the government already taking action to support our town centres, St Austell is well-placed to benefit from communities support from our government.

“One of my three election pledges is to work towards revitalising our towns, including through supporting town centre regeneration efforts in St Austell, and supporting investment into our often-neglected village communities, so I am proud to have been able to make that case directly to the minister.”

The government’s new high streets strategy is expected to include extra powers for local authorities to revive high streets. More details on the strategy, including how funding will be allocated to specific places, will be announced in the coming months. Mr Law will also release further details of his “Pledge to Revitalise our Towns” in the coming weeks.