Action for Market Towns Annual Convention

6th - 7th  October 2005   This years theme  “Sustaining the Impact”     This years Annual Convention was held in Hexham, Northumbria – an attractive market town dominated by its 17th century Abbey and two medieval towers, one of which houses the Borders History Museum.   From the first step off the train we were made very welcome, friendly people were placed strategically throughout the town, giving directions and information when required.   After registration and a buffet lunch, Chairman Julian Owen, welcomed us to the Action for Market Towns Conference, followed by Councillor Barry Pickering, Mayor of Hexham. Mayor Pickering was still cock-a-hoop after winning the “Britain in Bloom” award in the Best Town category.  As Chairman of the ‘Hexham in Bloom’ committee, he had every right to be chuffed!  It might be an idea for a member of our Horizon Project to check out Hexham, as Stonehaven will be competing against this type of town very soon. …   From the welcome it was straight to work, I had chosen ‘Town Centre Vitality in the Face of Edge of Town Retail Development’ as my study tour. With the ongoing saga of Tesco in Stonehaven, this tour chose itself, as the very named store had just snapped up a Retail Development Park on the edge of town and was almost ready to open its doors to a town with mixed views on the possible impact.   Tesco had paid twice the retail value, a staggering £17million for the 60,000 square feet development, which will have 24-hour opening times.   2 One observation I must point out is that this edge of town development is in fact just a five-minute walk from Hexham’s main shopping street.  I mention this, as the free three-hour parking arrangement negotiated with the store is to encourage shoppers to walk into town while parked.   We toured the mega-store then had a meeting with the members of Hexham businesses, a local newspaper and Tesco representatives.   The first thing that struck me was, apart from a sharp broadside from the local Hexham newspaper, the Tesco representative had a very easy ride through the meeting. I had expected a stiff argument from the 50% of town folk who opposed the store.  I put this down to people not wanting to make a scene in front of so many out of town visitors, for the good of the town so to speak.   I had to laugh however when hearing the Corporate Affairs Officer of Tesco say that people should not ask them for money, they should ask them for advice. This is surely like sheep asking the wolf for help.   I was hoping for direct comparisons of town centre before and after Tesco arrived, however as far as Hexham goes, we will have to wait a while. I did manage to talk with many members from further south who said that the heart of their town had been devastated by the arrival of Tesco or large retail developments.   Many said:   Negotiate before the store acquire permission   Get agreement in writing from Head Office – not locally   Tesco, have very little involvement in the community once they start trading                                               3 Hexham has a massive parking area adjacent to the large Tesco car park.  This, as previously mentioned, is only five minutes away from the main shopping centre, which is a tremendous bonus when drawing out of town visitors. Hexham Community Partnership has a successful pedestrianisation, marketing and branding scheme under its belt along with a Group Travel Policy that encourages coach operators to stop in their town.  This has increased coach tour business by 60%, which amounts to £97,000 in sales.  No mean feat, I’m sure you’ll agree! …   After a quick change it was off to the Gala Dinner at the Wentworth Leisure Centre, Hexham.  It was unusually fitted out with a Luxury Marquee inside the centre, which softened the usually cold and square building.   The food was all locally grown delicacies and we made use of the evening to talk with representatives from many different parts of the UK.  There was also the launch of the ‘Market Town’s Foodcheck Handbook’.  This publication has been researched and written by the Countryside Agency.   At a time when the importance of eating fresh and locally produced food is becoming increasingly recognised, Action for Market Towns are publishing and promoting the handbook as part of a broader commitment to carry forward recognition of the country’s market towns.  They hope the handbook will help develop local food networks around the country.   An 11pm finish meant that we did not need to be rocked to sleep and Friday morning arrived very quickly.  …     4 Friday started with Market Towns – “A Focal Point for Government Policy”. This, along with subjects like Delivering Sustainable Rural Communities was interesting enough, but as we were in an English region, operational details of all projects followed the English system of local and regional government and were not applicable in Scotland.   Morning workshop was ‘Owning and Managing Buildings’.  Present were many members who had taken over previously council or privately owned buildings and was now running them as community projects.   There is a tremendous North-South divide in England and this was very noticeable when members from the southeast were wondering how to spend the £200,000 grant they were receiving.  The gentleman was committed to his town, but you begin to wonder how projects can fail with this type of investments. Many town buildings had been taken over by the community and many were running with profit.  However, homework must be done before taking over these projects.    Like most northeast towns, Stonehaven’s Town Hall is sorely in need of renovation. The project, however, must be income generated and sustainable.  If we can prove this and are willing to take on the liabilities of ownership or part ownership then grants are out there. Amble Development Trust bought a building for £1 and set up a Social Enterprise Company providing training, citizen’s advice etc.  This project has become very successful and the demand for more office space is so great that a second building is now being built. ADT have also reopened a former bakery, turning it into a place of employment with profits expected early next year.   It is fair to say no that no building like this would last two minutes in the north east of Scotland, but there are many schools and run down council buildings that offer great potential for partnership run projects.  Cash strapped councils should not be allowed to sell public owned buildings to housing developers. …   5 The afternoon workshop was ‘Success in Fundraising’.  I guess that all the people who attended this workshop were looking for the same thing. The name and address of an organisation to send our grant application to.  Alas it was not to be.  A more realistic approach from a firm of advisors who weigh up, agree or decline projects is what we found.  It was more of a reality check for people who thought they had an ideal project for their particular town.    ‘Answer the Need’ was the theme.  This was the main criteria the firm would look at.  If it was addressing a need, they felt they were half way to achieving funding. “Looking to the future”, ‘Environmentally Friendly’ and ‘Sustainable’ were the boxes that needed to be ticked.  A degree of Project Logic as they say.   Start with Realism: How long can you work on the project?   Fee’s, VAT, Solicitors, Architects, can amount to 50% more than the actual project.  Before starting there has to be accuracy in your figures and you must have knowledge of all facts that may be queried by potential sponsors.  …   The conference wound up by Market Town’s Directors questioning the roll of Market Towns in the future.  With changes in the funding system, some directors would like to see towns break free from the restrictions that council and government place on us and prefer to aim for the private sector.  In her words, “You must release yourselves from the shackles of short term grants.” This theme came through loud and clear during the two days.  Turn your investment into income and make it sustainable.  Hence the title of the conference, “Sustaining the Impact”.   6 Observations of the Package   Was it worth attending? - Very much so – learn from those who are successful and don’t make the mistakes of others.   Should Stonehaven be part of an English run Market Towns Co-operative? - Yes – a Market Town is a Market Town; the only difference is when it gets to regional and government levels.   Should Stonehaven be a member of Action for Market Towns in its own right, as it was last year?  Should it remain as an Aberdeenshire TT partnership member?   - This is more difficult to answer.  Individual Membership of all towns would greatly increase the chances of a convention coming to Scotland.  It would also encourage more Scottish towns to join, and this would attract the attention of Hollyrood, and in turn, funding.   Aberdeenshire TT, on the other hand enables small towns to join collectively, saving each town a joining fee. It also helps with funding visits to the annual conferences.   Would a themed seminar benefit the “Towns Together” or the towns in it?   -  It would benefit possibly two towns that were close together, for example Stonehaven and Banchory.  However, it would not do much for any other town in the partnership so I would not recommend we spend time or money on such a small return from what would be a sizable investment.     7   Stonehaven can look to the town of Hexham on issues of:             Winning Britain in Bloom Pedestrian shopping area Car parking If you must have large shopping stores, edge of town is preferred to out of town The Group travel policy (coach operators)   Last but not least, Warm and friendly people leave a lasting impression.   Doug Paton Vice Chairman Stonehaven Business Association