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Report on Seminar “Creating A Future For Small Town Centres
Wed 5th December 2007 at Gordon Arms Hotel, Huntly
Aberdeenshire Council’s Economic Development service organised an national seminar to discuss future of small town centres in the Gordon Arms Hotel, Huntly. The aim was to focus attention on creating town centres that cater for the needs of 21st century communities and avoid ‘clone towns’ and empty shops.
I attended this on behalf of Stonehaven Business Association and have detailed below points that I believe would be of interest to Stonehaven.
Andrew Watson - Head of Press & Parliamentary Affairs, Federation of Small Businesses spoke if the challenges facing small town centres and explained how the FSB have been urging for help with rates and trying to improve the time taken to make decisions on planning applications and some progress is being made.
Huntly Experience
Because there has been several applications for Supermarkets in Stonehaven it was of interest to find out how Huntly a smaller town has been affected by the two supermarkets which recently opened on the outskirts of Huntly. Inevitably some shops in the centre closed down and yet the two supermarkets do not appear to be as busy as expected and the planners even admitted they might have made a mistake in approving the two applications.
Themed Towns
As the Stonehaven Business Association recently decided to promote Stonehaven as a Food town it was interesting to hear from Damien Wilson from Dumfries and Galloway Council who spoke on three Themed towns.
Castle Douglas - Food Town - Kirkcudbright - Artists Town - Wigtown - Book Town
The Castle Douglas Experience was of particular interest and key points were as follows
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The aim of the Food Town Initiative recognises the overall quality of the town in its aim " to ensure that Castle Douglas becomes a widely recognised as a market town of retail excellence especially for locally produced food and drink.
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The Food Town Theme has always been driven by a core of business owners in the town, but it has gained the support of the wider community as the theme has strengthened.
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The Initiative organises key events throughout the year eg. Food Town Day in May, the Christmas Extravaganza, The Stewarty Agricultural Show.
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In addition to its events, the Initiative works to enhance the brand of the Food Town and works with local stakeholders to try and strengthen the product at the local level. The main area of weakness for the Food Town is it's evening dining.
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The Food Town Initiative currently receives core funding from the Council
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07/08: £10,000
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08/09: £9,500
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09/10: £9,000
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Funding for projects and events mainly come from the Area Regeneration budget, together with locally raised funds
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The Castle Douglas Community Council is supportive of the work of the Food Town Initiative and there are frequently partnerships in the town to develop projects with a wider target – such as the new entry signs for the Town stating “ Dumfries and Galloway’s Food Town”
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The benefit to the wider community is one of a strong vibrant town with a quality range of retail businesses which attract people from across Dumfries and Galloway as well as repeat visits from tourists
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The Food Town Initiative employs one part time project co-ordinator and there has been a significant increase in the number of visitors to the town during the summer of 2006 and the Food Town May Day saw a 25% increase in visitors.
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The conclusions from the Themed Towns Approach were as follows
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POSITIVE |
NEGATIVE |
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Can act as a driver for economic growth |
Needs a champion |
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Helps rebrand and reposition towns |
Can be resource hungry |
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Acts as a focus for community |
Does not guarantee “buy in” |
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Attracts funding |
Need to develop exit strategy early to ensure is focussed on sustainability |
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Catalyst for more holistic regeneration |
Not a panacea |
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Business can buy in to concept |
Avoid the “if it is there people will come approach” |
Visit Castle Douglas Food Town Website
Haslemere Rewards
Melanie Olden of the Haslemere Initiative gave a fascinating talk on the Haslemere & villages Rewards Scheme which was designed to reward people for shopping and visiting Haslemere. Full details can be found on www.haslemere.com/rewards. This is perhaps something Aberdeenshire Council could develop through the Towns Together.
A lot of small towns are losing their core businesses like fish merchants, butchers etc and it was good to see Aberdeenshire Council trying to address this by putting this seminar together. There was a large attendance particularly from Councillors and Aberdeenshire Council Staff. Not too many business people attended which was understandable as it meant giving up a whole day and travelling to Huntly but hopefully this report will stimulate some thinking among the people of Stonehaven.
George McGillivray
www.stonehavenguide.net
www.webecommarketing.co.uk
7/12/07
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