Illustrations by Dermot Flynn
I want to put the heart back into the centre of our High Streets, re-imagined as destinations for socialising, culture, health, wellbeing, creativity and learning. Places that will develop and sustain new and existing markets and businesses. The new High Streets won’t just be about selling goods. The mix will include shops but could also include housing, offices, sport, schools or other social, commercial and cultural enterprises and meeting places. They should become places where we go to engage with other people in our communities, where shopping is just one small part of a rich mix of activities.
High Streets must be ready to experiment, try new things, take risks and become destinations again. They need to be spaces and places that people want to be in. High Streets of the future must be a hub of the community that local people are proud of and want to protect.
My goal is to breathe economic and community life back into our High Streets and town centres. I want to see all our High Streets bustling with people, services, and jobs. They should be vibrant places that people choose to visit. They should be destinations. Anything less is a wasted opportunity.
Please read through my full report below, or click here for a summary of my 28 recommendations.
Comments
I’d love to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment below.
Dear Mary
One of the adjustments needed to the Govt plans for allocating the funding for the Portas Pilots is that at present towns need to have the written support of their Districts, County or Unitary Councils. In some cases that is fine but for others it is stifling their ability to be creative and I hope that you will encourage the Govt in round 2 to consider giving the funding directly to Town Councils (if the application was sent by them) rather than being held/controlled by authorities who could be considered to have a vested interest with their control of paid car parks in town centres. In at least one case the District insisted at the last minute that its support would only be given if funding was earmarked from the £100,000 to reimburse them to offset any free parking initiatives. Those authorities are often responsible for many more communities so fear setting a precedent, but as a Town Council we do not have that problem and can just fight the corner for our own towns.
Thank you for highlighting the plight of our town centres – your report has created an awareness of the problems and we are certainly striving to support ours and drive forward together to address the very difficult challenges, using your report as the kickstart to bring all the key people together. Good luck with your decisions.
I have been trying to buy some Kinky Knickers since the show went out. I want to support the project, but I cannot get hold of any. Asos was suposed to have new stock yesterday, but nothing comes up in a search. I appreciate it is difficult to fulfill demand, but possibly it has grown too fast. It is incredibly frustrating for potential customers and I think people are starting to give up.
Down County Museum in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, the burial-place of St Patrick, is lucky enough to hold an amazing collectionof photographs of the town’s shops going back 120 years, due to a series of photographers clicking away over the decades and giving their images to the Museum. In 2011 the Museum printed a book called ‘Down Town’ with European Union PEACE III funding and gave away 10,000 copies in 6 months. The book included photos taken specially of shopkeepers outside their shops to go with the historic shots of shopkeepers with folded arms outside their premises from Victorian times onwards. We are launching a second book, ‘Down Town 2′, with over 300 new photos that have been brought in, and opening a related exhibition about local shops, here on 24th May, and I think you will find that any town could generate the same amazing interest in this kind of project. Why not come along and join us and see how this could be adopted as a model across the nation for people to take pride in their local shops and their heritage. 7.30pm, Thursday 24th May, Down County Museum, The Mall, English Street, Downpatrick, Co Down, N. Ireland. Tel 028 44615218
Dear Mary
Help please! Newport, Shropshire needs your help and support.
Newport is a wonderful old market town that is just about managing to survive in these hard times. However,its future is not good because of the councils current plans to build two new supermarkets on the outskirts of the town.
Newport already has two supermarkets in the town centre – Waitrose and Co-op. Seven miles away thers is an Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl and less than 12 miles away at Telford Town Centre there is another Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco. The market town of Wellington is also 10.5 miles away where there is also a large Morrisons.
Despite public uproar and a big campaign by the people of Newport against current plans, local councillors have given the go-ahead for the building of both a Sainsburys and a Morrisons on the outskirts of the town. Why?
They keep saying it will create jobs but it will also result in the loss of jobs and businesses (something they never seem to consider). I feel maddened that the council seems to have their own agenda. How can there be the need for any more supermarkets when there is no more cash to be spent & all it is doing is destroying our town. I believe the Co-op have said they will probably have to leave Newport.
We really don’t need any more supermarkets.
– If people want the choice, surely we have enough supermarkets in an 11 mile radious for them to choose from.
– If people can’t get to the exisiting supermarkets, why can’t the supermarkets provide buses for people (which will create jobs), thus maximising the use of current supermarkets (this too will create jobs as the supermarkets will be busier) or offer assistance with on-line shopping?
– Why build more supermarkets, which is obviously costly, and ruin more towns and green areas when we already know towns are suffering and in danger of dying out? All it does is add to road congestion and pollution and takes the heart out of our towns.
These plans seem to be going against the Government’s desire to retain our towns and your campaign. Please can you help.
Kind regards
Caroline
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