Angela Crawley MP and Christina McKelvie MSP have this week launched the Hamilton Covid-19 business survey.
The survey asks local businesses for their experience since the beginning of the pandemic and their views on future regeneration projects.
It follows the 2016 ‘Our Town, Your Voice’ consultation – organised by Ms Crawley and Ms McKelvie – which paved the way for the Council’s ongoing town centre regeneration strategy.
Once completed, the consultation will help inform future decisions around business support, parking management and town centre accessibility.
Businesses have until 31January to respond to the online survey and will be invited to attend a virtual public meeting afterwards to discuss the future of Hamilton town centre.
The survey can be accessed here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/XNKWZNC
Commenting, Ms Crawley said: “This has been an extremely difficult year for business who have faced forced closure on a number of occasions.
“Not only that, but the accelerated shift to online shopping will make our recovery from the pandemic even more challenging.
“There is, however, a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of multiple vaccines and whilst we are not out of the woods yet, it is important that we learn the lessons from lockdown.
“That is why Christina and I have joined to launch a consultation on town centre regeneration from Covid-19.
“If you own a business in the town centre, we would love to hear from you.
“Please complete the survey and help us make the case for positive change in a post-Covid town centre.”
Following on, Christina said: “Scotland’s high streets have an absolute crucial role in our national COVID recovery. By putting our high streets are at the heart of our economic and social recovery we can make sure we be build back better.
”We want to hear directly from business owners in Hamilton as part of this survey to make sure the town centre regeneration strategy is able to adapt to the new post-COVID landscape we will find ourselves in.
“We are keen to put businesses right at the centre of this process and that is why we will be hosting a virtual public meeting so Hamilton town centre businesses can come together directly to build a picture of the changes we will need to see in the future.”