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Town Centre Partnerships Pilot Programme Launched

High Street Accelerators to be Set Up in Ten Locations

On the 6th December 2023, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities launched the High Street Accelerators Programme following ministerial level discussions with ATCM. The pilot programme represents a long-term of ambition of ATCM to build stronger links between the property sector, community groups and existing town centre management schemes.
 
High Street Accelerators will get an initial share of £2.37 million and will be vehicles for town centre management and regeneration that will have at least four core partners. This must include:

  • Local government

  • Businesses

  • Property

  • Community

 

The pilot areas include:
 

  • Abingdon Street and Queen Street in Blackpool

  • Stoke Town Centre in Stoke-on-Trent

  • Queen Street with Blackburn Road and Church Street in Great Harwood Town Centre in Hyndburn

  • Scunthorpe High Street in North Lincolnshire

  • Union Street and Yorkshire Street in Oldham Town Centre

  • The Stepney area of Beverley Road in Hull

  • King William Street in Blackburn Town Centre in Blackburn with Darwen

  • Grimsby Town Centre in North East Lincolnshire

  • Dovercourt Town Centre in Tendring

  • Hyde Town Centre in Tameside

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The inspiration for High Street Accelerators comes from a number of sources including ATCM’s 2023 Place Management Conference ‘Whose High Street is it Anyway?’ and the British Property Federation’s white paper on Town Centre Investment Zones.

An initiative around expanded town centre partnerships was proposed to then Local Growth Minister Dehenna Davison in November 2022 following a meeting with ATCM CEO Ojay McDonald. This has since been developed by civil servants at the Department for Levelling Up, was included in the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan in Spring 2023 before being launched by the current Local Growth Minister Jacob Young MP this December.
 
The minister said:

“It has been a tough few years for our high streets following the pandemic and the changes we’ve seen in consumer behaviour. 
 
We know that local people know what’s best for their area, and we’re keen to understand the benefits that High Street Accelerators could bring working with local businesses and their communities. 
 
These Accelerators will complement other interventions like High Street Rental Auctions, empowering local people to tackle vacancy and other issues on their high streets.”

The launch of the Accelerator programme took place at an event hosted in Manchester by the High Streets Task Force.

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