Issue - meetings

To consider the Radstock Town Centre Regeneration Action Plan which identifies opportunities, concepts and project ideas to underpin funding and grant applications for project delivery.

Cllr Paul Roper introduced the report, moved the officer recommendation, and made the following points:

·  High streets and town centres across the country have faced huge upheaval in the last decade.  These are tough times even for the most powerful and influential retailers. And it isn’t just retail that is affected – many sectors that relied on high footfall to survive have been decimated.

·  The effects of these changes on rural towns and smaller cities have been devastating.

·  One can visit hundreds of rural town centres and see how much reduced their once-proud high streets are. The bank branches and other anchor institutions are gone. Pubs are closing in their thousands. Technology and centralisation have rendered many traditional service providers redundant in rural locations.

·  The business rates system is not fit for purpose and needs reform.

·  Our high streets and town centres are entering a new era. It is not entirely clear what that future will look like – but the focus has to be on “Place Making”. Making spaces and places where people want to be. Creating environments for new ventures to thrive. We must adapt and repurpose buildings for new uses.

·  This will take both time and investment but our ambition should not be dampened by this.

·  The first element needed is community engagement. This regeneration project is a great example of how we have listened and worked with the local community in a hugely collaborative way.

·  B&NES has a dedicated, expert resource working on this issue – the Regeneration Team.  This is a team of 12 that delivers impactful projects working with our communities in a positive way.  They are entirely grant-funded, save for one officer, and have secured £23m in grant funding over the last 4 years.  There are many more projects in the pipeline and their work is making a significant difference to our communities.

·  One of the schemes that they have developed is the Radstock Town Centre Regeneration Action Plan.  Radstock is a town with a unique heritage, attractive green spaces and local facilities which serve a wide rural area. There is significant potential for increasing the vibrancy of the town centre and attracting more visitors and investment.  The Plan aims to create a thriving town centre bringing vacant buildings back into use.

·  The aim is to deliver as many of the priority projects as possible and to have high ambitions. Successful delivery of these projects will rely on collective action to secure funding and take forward these initiatives. We have three schemes already being delivered: improvements to Tom Huyton Park, a new community arts space in the Old Printworks, a cultural programme that is delivering free creative and arts activities and a greenway arts trail.

·  The plan will form a basis for funding bids and help to prioritise town centre projects that would benefit the community and make Radstock a more varied and welcoming place.

·  The partnership has already secured £560,000 of investment in the town centre in its initial two years.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86