Creating a Forward Framework for town centre revitalisation provides communities with a template for determining the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ of transforming their high streets. This video presentation gives an overview of creating a Forward Framework for town centre revitalisation using the East Suffolk town of Bungay as an example. Below are links to all…
Surely with technology that enables vehicles to drive in fixed-speed convoys, driverless cars have great potential to reduce traffic in our town centres? If not, surely this will be a huge missed opportunity? According to a new study published by the Government, the answer is yes, no and maybe! The impact of driverless vehicles on…
I once asked a town team chairman and former trans-European business director, which of the two roles was the most challenging. Without a moment’s hesitation he replied that leading change in your own community is by far the bigger challenge. Leading a local revival is undoubtedly fraught with frustrations but can be rewarding personally and…
Is public wi-fi worth it? With the well-publicised failure of wi-fi schemes in towns like Swindon, plenty of people are asking whether the provision of public wi-fi is worth the effort. In this guest blog, Wendy Riley from Real Towns takes a closer look at public wi-fi and assures us that yes, it’s money well…
What turns a town or city centre in to a destination for visitors? And what even is the attraction of becoming an attraction? Those are some of the thoughts that went through my head recently as I have toured three town and city centres going through different transformations in the hope, partly, of putting themselves…
I wanted to find out how easy it is to share the love for markets on-line. Hopefully most markets have a Facebook page but fewer I found have a presence on Tripadvisor. Like me, many of you probably use Tripadvisor to find out about where to eat, stay or visit when going to a…
Businesses in Abergele, North Wales will have an opportunity to contribute to the Abergele Place Plan over the next few weeks and shape an approach that might become more widely used across Wales. Conwy County Borough Council has commissioned People and Places Partnership to spend time in the town, meeting members of the local Business…
Crowdfunding is about getting friends and contacts to chip-in and pay for a bright idea. Using web-based platforms, Crowdfunding massively extends your reach to like-minded individuals and makes collecting the cash much easier. Crowdfunding Examples Crowdfunding within communities is great for events and activities that capture the imagination and provide benefits for a wide range of people.…
Should you consider Community Shares if you have good idea or simply stick with grants and more traditional sources of funding? What are Community Shares? Community Shares raise money by offering local people to invest in the ownership of a new cooperative venture. It’s not an ‘either/or’ alternative as Community Shares are often used to…
In this third of our series of top town tips created jointly with Chris Jones Regeneration Ltd, we look at what it takes to lead and sustain town centre regeneration through generating the necessary income and investment. Types and Sources of Funding As well as nationally available funding such as the National Lottery and the LEADER Programme, local…