The long anticipated Portas Review  http://www.maryportas.com/news/2011/12/12/the-portas-review/ into their future of high streets seems to be have been largely well received and made for some positive reading yesterday.

The Review identifies what government, local authorities and businesses can do to promote the development of more prosperous and diverse high streets.  The [...]]]> Mary Portas: Implications for Scotland

The long anticipated Portas Review  http://www.maryportas.com/news/2011/12/12/the-portas-review/ into their future of high streets seems to be have been largely well received and made for some positive reading yesterday.

The Review identifies what government, local authorities and businesses can do to promote the development of more prosperous and diverse high streets.  The review recognises that thriving town centres are key to rebuilding the economy and sets out twenty eight recommendations under seven headings namely:

• Getting our town centres running like businesses;
• Getting the basics right to allow business to flourish;
• Levelling the playing field;
• Defining landlords’ roles and responsibilities;
• Giving communities a greater say; 
• A few words of advice to Britain’s shopkeepers: experience, service specialism;
• Re-imagining our high streets.

There is even a quote from The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs (1961). Difficult to justice to the Review in a blog so read it for yourself! Two particular conclusions chime well with the DWA lead team report on “Town Centre Regeneration: how does it work and what can be achieved?” that was published by the Scottish Government in September.  

 First, the vision of ‘highstreets, 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.’ 

Second, it’s accepted that the public sector alone cannot create vibrant high streets and town centres, however hard they try.  It’s about what landlords and retailers can do and, crucially, the part that all of us can play as people that meet, trade and shop in high streets and town centres

In Scotland a number of the recommendations are not new, for example there are already eleven established Business Improvement Districts and more than sixteen in development. In addition a host of practical projects that contribute to the debate and demonstrate a range of different responses have emerged.  See my last blog http://www.douglaswheelerassociates.com/spirits-on-the-high-street.htm .  There is also a clear recognition that quality design is crucial in supporting the creation of successful places. 

 No complacency though. Clearly there is still a massive challenge for town centres in Scotland as well as the rest of the UK and the Portas Review has raised the bar in terms of a response.

Not to be outdone, the Scottish Government (SG), as part of the Regeneration Strategy, also published this week, will undertake a national review of town centres in 2012 to scope out potential solutions to the issues faced by Scotland’s town centres and to enable a measured, long-term approach to town centre regeneration by targeting the relevant issues. The SG say that the  review will be developed and implemented in partnership with local authorities, community groups and other key stakeholders. 

It could be that SG’s review needs to start from where the Portas Review leaves off but then look to the structures at the local level to ensure co-operation and start to test relevant local economic development, business and planning models that are about reinvestment and sharing the benefits so as to accelerate the economic revival of town centres.  Is Scotland ready to go further and rein in the supermarkets and act on the basis that town centres are part of the solution to the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil? 

The review should identify what government, [...]]]> The Mary Portas independent review into the future of the high street is being published in early December.  The review, commissioned by David Cameron in May, will look both at what is happening in high streets, what can be done to reverse current trends and tackle the low sprits.

The review should identify what government, local authorities and businesses can do to promote the development of more prosperous and diverse high streets.  It will also form part of the UK Government’s wider Growth Review which is examining how to ‘remove the barriers to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries’. That is a challenge!

The issues are complex and clearly there is no one simple answer.  The high street/retail is only one component of the wider town centre. Here town centre regeneration has to deal with interrelated and multi-dimensional issues that are not easily analysed or solved and furthermore are driven by the wider economic and other factors associated with the town (and for some larger towns the sub-region).  An integrated approach is essential across local authority functions, businesses and communities that move beyond just physical, typically environmental improvement, projects.  This kind of approach needs to focus on services, cultural, civic, community and visitor assets.

In Scotland there are a number of practical projects emerging that contribute to the debate and demonstrate a range of different responses and theses include:

• Retail Rocks in Torry/Aberdeen  http://www.retailrocksaberdeen.com/winners
• Start Up Street Stirling http://www.theplacestation.org.uk/profile/start-street-stirling
• Post Office Diversification: Busby/florist  http://www.floralexperts.co.uk/

and Sleat /garage  http://www.sleatcommunitytrust.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=75353

If you are looking for other practical solutions the Scotland BIDs Vacancy Report http://www.ryden.co.uk/News/documents/BIDSVacancyReport.pdf  highlights some approaches to reducing vacancies under the following broad headings:

• Partnership
• Agency
• Landlords
• Planning and Development
• Funding
• Temporary Measures

Urban Pollinators have also prepared a response to the Mary Portas review.  It’s at http://urbanpollinators.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/downloads-manager/upload/C21%20agora.pdf

So expectations of the review are high: let’s wait to see the report!

The 18 month [...]]]> The DWA lead team report on Town Centre Regeneration: how does it work and what can be achieved? was published by the Scottish Government in September. Four parts are available for download on the website namely: Research Summary, Report, TCRF Case Studies and Appendices.

The 18 month long research project that we completed in May set out to develop a clear understanding of activities in town centre regeneration in Scotland and the outputs and outcomes that follow on from these activities. Specifically the research considered the popular £60m Town Centre Regeneration Fund (TCRF) and its early success and progress on the ground.

Difficult in a blog to do justice to the reports (around 250 pages in total!) and the research so please go and ‘dip in’ and read for yourselves.  The ten learning points and recommendations are in summary:

1. It is complex concept and town centre regeneration strategies should be integrated and focus on services, cultural, civic, community and visitor assets and sit within whole town approach.

2. Recognise scale and distinctiveness of town centres in a changing wider context.

3. Town centre regeneration needs more than physical investment including measures to directly support business, stimulate business growth, attract visitors and encourage pride.

4. A clear shared vision, strategy and action plan is essential.

5. Partnership is not an outcome; effective and coordinated delivery is essential.

6. Recognise the importance of small/medium businesses and potential of community ownership of assets.

7. Improving town centre regeneration project planning; in most cases no clear results chain/logic model had been identified. I’ve commented on this later.

8. Improving approaches to town centre health check assessment and monitoring is still required.

9. Currently effective evaluation of town centre projects is based on limited evidence and has limitations.

10. One approach to address limitations in evaluation: is to apply Theories of Change at the project planning stage.

Leigh Sparks and the Centre for Scottish Public Policy have already rightly highlighted the recurring importance of robust data collection: ‘Good quality data has to be the basic building block. How else are we meant to know what is going on and what works and what does not?’

I am also keen to get a wider reaction to the ‘Theories of Change’ approach that aims to enhance project planning, to help build monitoring and evaluation frameworks and to improve attribution.  Does it have more to offer town centre regeneration?  Certainly several case studies viewed the approach as adding value to their monitoring and evaluation plans and for future project development.