ATCM Chief Executive's Blog - Town Centres on the political map

Town Centres on the political map
Thursday 04 March 2010

It is reassuring that in many parts of Europe there is strong political interest in town and city centres. I have seen this evidenced in a number of ways in the last few days and it is perhaps only when looked at in the round that the extent of this support becomes clear.

Last week I was back in Malta where we held the second of the three workshops that form part of the National Development Programme for Town Centre Management that is being funded by the Malta Tourism Authority and the Department for Local Councils, both of which form part of the Office of the Prime Minister. The workshop was attended by a wide range of public and private sector stakeholders, and explored the development of effective partnership structures, how to prepare business plans and town centre action plans, and how to go about securing funding. Three towns in Malta, including the capital, Valletta, are part of the initial programme.

Government support is also evident in Scotland, where ATCM is working with the Scottish Centre for Regeneration to deliver a programme for town centres that includes running learning sets for those engaged in improving centres that start later this month. Those participating have been indentifying the key issues affecting their centres and highlighting what they would like to work together with others on to develop their knowledge, skills and abilities.

Yesterday I was in Belfast with the Chair and Vice Chair of the ATCM Ireland and Northern Ireland Region for a meeting with the Minister for the Department of Social Development, Margaret Ritchie, to discuss some of the recommendations arising from a recent report by an Assembly Committee that made 17 recommendations strongly supportive of town centres and town centre management. There seems to be a positive government response to the report and I am hopeful this will be good for town and city centres across Northern Ireland.

Today it is Darlington for a round table with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham. This is looking at what is happening in town centres across England and exploring the impact of the £5.6 million of CLG funding that has been given to local authorities to support their town centres. It is encouraging that a number of ATCM members will be at this event and we will have the chance to look at how centres are dealing with the current economic climate.

Elsewhere in Europe there is evidence of a growing level of government engagement, often through regional government. The 5th World Congress on Downtowns and Town Centres will explore more of this in June and give us the opportunity to examine what approaches work best. You can find out more at www.worldcongress2010.org