This week I visited five West Midlands town centres in five hours. The kind of perspective on places that I am lucky to enjoy in my job (though usually divided by days not hours). Always an opportunity for joining-up town centre thinking.
Town Centre Task Force
This time I was accompanied on the visits by my fellow panel members of the West Midlands Combined Authority Town Centre Task Force. What is great about the Task Force created by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street is that it brings together perspectives from different disciplines to help in joining-up town centre thinking within places.
On the visits we heard about plans from local councils seeking to lead changes in five pilot town centres: West Bromwich (East) in Sandwell, St Thomas Quarter in Dudley, Bilston in Wolverhampton, St Matthews Quarter in Walsall and Bordesley Green in Birmingham.
Joining-up thinking between places
The Task Force’s role is to act as a critical friend to council leaders across the West Midlands. In doing so, it can also help in joining-up town centre thinking between places. The importance of this mission to find how neighbouring towns complement -rather than complete with- each other, became all the more apparent after our rapid tour of just a handful of West Midlands town centres.
Common & contrasting themes
I am looking forward to getting back together with Task Force members and council leaders to distill our first thoughts from the field visits and background plans. We saw common threads about expanding transport infrastructure including the West Midlands Metro; about the diversification away from retail including impressive investments in educational institutions; and about the challenges of getting brownfield sites ready for the right investment.
We saw heritage assets utilized to different degrees; heard mixed thinking about the draw of down-town Birmingham and got a sense of different levels of community and business engagement and aspirations.
Joined-up process
To stop my head spinning and make sense of these contrasting communities, I turn back to tried-and-tested processes for joining-up town centre thinking. For me, this is articulated in the revitalising town centres handbook that People & Places prepared as a national guide for council leaders with the Local Government Association. I look forward to understanding the evidence-base and existing strategies for each place.
Joined-up solutions
In terms of addressing issues we need to take a lead in joining-up town centre thinking. For me this involves joining-up solutions including parking, travel and access; planning and property; streetscape and public realm; business support; place branding and marketing; digital technology and data. The great value in the Task Force is it brings together leaders in many of these fields to act as a sounding board for emerging revitalisation plans.
Delivering change with communities
To ensure things happen in the right way, we need to focus on joining-up town centre thinking by looking across local leadership and partnership working; to give funders the confidence to invest and reassure local people that change will happen with -not to- local residents and businesses. This approach begins with an effective community engagement strategy brings stakeholders together to develop and deliver change.
National High Streets Task Force announced
The first steps by the West Midlands Task Force comes as the Government announces that it has appointed a consortium led by Manchester’s Institute of Place Management (IPM) to deliver a national High Streets Task Force.
