The Midhurst Vision brings together 22 local organizations including schools, retailers, community groups, Chamber of Commerce and local authorities in a three year project to revitalize Midhurst – a medieval market town on the South Downs.  The project has contributed to Chichester District Council winning the most ‘Business-friendly Council in the South East’ award from the Federation for Small Businesses (FSB).

Overview

The Midhurst Vision is a three year project that has brought together for the first time, 22 different local organisations to help build a better future for the town.  Although only midway through their plan, success is already evident with funding secured from SEEDA and the District Council for a Rural Towns Coordinator, shop front grants, retail and business training, new street furniture, heritage boards for empty shop windows, Farmers’ Markets, seasonal events and a community resource centre.  The project has not only galvanised Midhurst’s business community, but with the introduction of the shop front grant and merchandising training, it has started to increase businesses’ turnover. 

The Midhurst Vision comprises four key projects:

• Creating a sense of place – to make Midhurst an attractive place to visit and increase footfall
• Supporting a vibrant retail economy – to help retailers maximise sales
• Supporting all businesses – to take care of not just the retailers, but all businesses in Midhurst
• Coordinated management – to make sure the project functions effectively

Each key project area is assigned to a team within the Midhurst Steering Group.   As a direct result of the Midhurst Vision, an £80k grant has been secured from SEEDA and the District Council to fund an ‘inside and out’ refurbishment for retailers.  Shopkeepers can apply for a grant to have their shop fronts renovated, but must also undergo merchandising training and a business health check.  The purpose of this approach is to ensure that retailers are able to take a fresh look at their business and are armed with the skills to attract new customers.  SEEDA funding has also enabled the provision of a Farmers’ Market in the High Street. This has increased footfall/trader turnover and allowed Midhurst to live up to its name as a market town. It has also led to the demand for other quality markets, such as an Italian market.  

Need, purpose and community involvement

In 2006, with shoppers abandoning Midhurst High Street, Chichester District Council’s Economic Development Service (EDS), decided to halt the decline and take action.  Historically, the different community, business and agency organisations in Midhurst had found it difficult to work together.

The council commissioned Broome Jenkins, a consultancy specialising in urban design, to carry out extensive research about the issues facing the town.  This work included reviewing previous studies, interviewing local organisations and stakeholders, surveying the area and its amenities, and sending out questionnaires to over 1100 residents and 200 traders.  The high response rate of 33% for residents and 35% for businesses demonstrated the local level of interest in regenerating Midhurst’s town centre.

The findings of the research formed the content of the Midhurst Improvement Study and identified three specific goals:

• To stem the decline in shop closures and improve Midhurst’s economic prosperity;
• to establish Midhurst as an attractive shopping and visitor destination and increase footfall for retailers; and
• to provide business support for retailers and small businesses.

The District Council was keen to review the outcomes of the research with a wide audience in order to gain buy in and visited the local sixth form, running clubs, community groups and businesses, and invited them to four well attended public events.  The consultation process took about six months and enabled the community to reach agreement on the priorities for the town’s regeneration.

A Steering Group was formed to develop a three year regeneration plan based on the outcomes of the research and to take ownership of Midhurst’s regeneration. The community’s remit was encapsulated in the Midhurst Vision.

Innovation, learning points & transferability

Unlike other shop front grant schemes, which simply provide funding for new signs or building works, Chichester District Council has made it a prerequisite that business owners sign up for merchandising training and a business review. 

By commissioning a third party agency to carry out the initial research, they were able to gain buy-in to the project from across the board because everyone viewed it as independent starting point.  This was important because, historically the various interested parties had found it difficult to find a common ground to build on.  Chichester DC has devised a template which other councils can use to carry out the same research in-house.

A key learning point has been the Shop Front Grants that have taken much longer to process than originally thought.  This is because many of the shops are in Midhurst’s conservation area, and many applications have involved advertising and planning consent.  However the Council now has a Rural Towns Coordinator in place, working with the council’s planning team to provide preliminary planning advice and guidance.

The Midhurst Vision Process is a blueprint for how to involve the community in the regeneration of a market town.  The process is well documented and includes sample questionnaires, survey approaches and extensive illustrations.  To help others wishing to replicate the work, the Council is able to provide pdfs of documentation including:

·         Midhurst Improvement Study

·         Shop Front Survey

·         Midhurst Vision brochure

·         Sense of Place guide  

·         Case Studies on the shop front grant scheme

·         A summary of the Shop Front Grant scheme and training.

Further information can also be found by visiting www.chichester.gov.uk/business then clicking on the tab Economic Intelligence and then Midhurst Studies.

Funding, future financial viability & outcomes

The District Council has invested in the Midhurst Vision to fund the research study, public consultation events, hire of rooms, printing documentation, and implementing projects such as the retail training and shop front grant scheme.  This funding has also contributed towards seasonal events in Midhurst and trialling some of the heritage projects to attract more funding.

07/08    £25,000

08/09    £10,000

09/10    £20,000 (match funding for shop front grants) and gained £40,000 from SEEDA

10/11    Budget is £15,000 (contribution to shop front grants)

In terms of future plans Chichester DC are waiting to hear if West Sussex County Council in partnership with the Town Council, has succeeded in securing a grant to renovate Midhurst’s market square.  Plans also include the development of gateways at key entry points, introducing planting, street banners, signage and street furniture.   

This vision for protecting and promoting the town’s heritage is mapped out in the Sense of Place report, which has been produced by the Sense of Place Steering sub-group.  Benches, banners and heritage boards detailing Midhurst’s history for empty shop windows are already being trialled in the town centre.

The Farmers Market has moved to a more central location and the District Council won funding to invest in equipment to support the move long-term. The success of this move means that more markets are being planned, such as an Italian market to draw more visitors to the town.

Chichester District Council knew that the project would take at least three years and set out to achieve consistent communication of achievements and key milestones in order to maintain momentum.  This is now being boosted by a mid-project relaunch to the Steering Group and the community to show progress and outline the next stage in the journey, as well as finding out from the community how they would like to be kept updated.

Contact: Diane Williams

OVERALL WINNER

Winner – Social and Community category

Summary

The programme started with the town council providing four Apprentice opportunities to young people as Sports Coaches.  This was so successful that the provision has increased from four Apprentices to 12 Community Sports Coaches at no cost to the council, providing over 200 sessions of sport every week in schools and free community sessions during each of the holidays which means over 3000 places per year.

Overview

Starting as Apprentices in May 2008, our first 4 Apprentices became full-time Community Sports Coaches on 15 May 2009. But their success was so dramatic in the first 3 months that we were forced to take on another 4 Apprentices and then 3 months later another 4, so that now we have 12 Apprentices.  We will need another 4 in the next 2 months and hope to have 20 by the end of this financial year. Not only is there no cost to the council but it helps us provide over 200 free sessions of sport direct to the community via our Sports Roadshow. We have reduced costs to the local schools by 70% for this service, which was previously bought in from other providers, and increased the number of children participating in sport by more than 300.

During the holidays and supported by volunteers, teachers and youth workers, we are now able to provide childcare places from 8.30am – 5.30pm at greatly reduced costs and provide over 3000 child places a year.

The project is so innovative that Train to Gain / National Skills Academy has asked us to sit on the South West Regional Development Board and indicated that they would like to see this rolled out as a national initiative.

Need, purpose and community involvement

We are meeting a number of initiatives for Every Child Matters, Childhood Obesity, More People More Active More of the Time, Active Life Styles, Combating Anti-Social Behaviour, and Building Community Capacity.

By giving support and training to community volunteers we are helping to build the capacity of the local communities to provide accessible activities supervised by trained and qualified staff. Volunteers are able to access training free of charge from us and use equipment from us to offer a range of activities and sports.

Innovation, learning points and transferability

The project is easily duplicated and we intend to duplicate it in other towns around the county over the next 12 months. We have already started to take it to other towns and at present are developing these other projects.

The lessons learned have been the importance of moving quickly to grasp opportunity while the benefits of working in partnership in this project have reduced costs to schools, increased employment among young people, provided more child care places at affordable rates, increased the capacity of local communities to provide activities that they want and increased the revenue of the council which will offset the costs of other activities it is involved with.

Funding, future financial viability and outcomes

The initial funding was provided by the town council for the first four Apprentices, with additional training funds obtained through grant funding. Future funding is secure through the Teachers Development Agency for the next 3 years and beyond that point each school will have a business plan to sustain each of the projects indefinitely using existing budgets and subscriptions from users for activities.

As each Apprentice is only taken on to meet the demands of the schools there is no Employment Risk for expenditure as they cover their costs immediately.

Outcomes are evident through our activities. In June 2008 we were providing 28 sessions every week in schools, but today we are providing 203 sessions every week in schools and have provided over 1000 child care places in the last 3 months.

Key partners

• Trowbridge Extended Schools Project
• Active Trowbridge
• Trowbridge Sports Forum
• Chart Stage

Winner – Business and Economy category

Summary

On View is a pioneering initiative which has converted windows of vacant shops in Dursley into temporary art galleries, creating town centre vitality during the recession.

It benefits surrounding businesses, landlords and local artists and is an inexpensive way to increase footfall and improve the streetscape.

Overview

Between 1 January 2008 and 31 March 2009 four vacant shops on a key approach road to Dursley were painted and transformed into temporary art galleries, giving a new lease of life to the area. Despite the recession, two of the shops have now been let to new tenants and one has been sold for redevelopment.

Stroud District Council carried out the painting and repairs, in exchange for use of the shop windows as temporary art galleries until a new tenant was found. Landlords were obliged to choose paints from a palate of heritage colours in order to highlight the attractive architecture of the street. Dursley Town Council supported the project with funding for window cleaning and exhibition materials. Town Councillor Jon Martin and Artist Karen Hilliard promoted the opportunity to local artists and organised the exhibitions.

So far 11 local artists have held exhibitions in the shops, helping to raise their profile locally as well as to sell work.

The project has been highlighted by the Guardian, BBC Breakfast news, BBC Radio 4 Today programme and the BBC World Service as well as national media in Spain, Ireland, Germany, Australia and America starting a debate on innovative ways to use vacant shops during a recession.

The Town Centre Coordinator has advised the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Association resulting in a best practice guide, changes to policy, and a new funding stream.  See: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/towncentres

Need, purpose and community involvement

The key challenge for Stroud District Council has been how to maintain momentum for the long term vision for Dursley Town Centre, despite the recession. It has succeeded by combining an innovative idea with skilled negotiation. New partnerships have been formed between landlords, councils and artists.

Historically Dursley has thrived serving blue collar workers from nearby factories. However, due to changing demographics, future prosperity lies with a discerning and affluent group that lives in its rural hinterland.  Recently the Council has brokered a deal with Sainsbury’s to build a new store in close proximity to the High Street, a move designed to tempt this group of people into the town centre.

Linked to this, various regeneration projects aim to present a vibrant impression of Dursley to these new customers, so that the whole town can benefit from an increase in footfall.  The task for the On View project team was to find an attractive temporary use for vacant shops so that the recession did not undermine the wider strategy.

On View has received enthusiastic support from the local community. The transformation of these shops has not only increased their chances of being let and avoided vandalism, but also helped surrounding businesses and given a boost to civic pride.

Our plans for the future include a link with the Royal Academy of Arts for a community drawing project as well as collaborative work with local festivals and schools. The idea is also being expanded to nearby Stroud.

Innovation, learning points and transferability

The project has taken an innovative approach to vacant shops, viewing them as an opportunity rather then a problem. Success is due to original strategic thinking and project management by the Town Centre Coordinator, as well as the passion and commitment of two members of the community.

To ensure high standards each element of the project is managed professionally.  Landlords deal directly with the Town Centre Coordinator who negotiates terms.  She is able to get specialist support on legal issues from colleagues at the District Council, as well as to organise painting and repairs for landlords, secure project funding and arrange media coverage. The artist coordinator oversees the exhibitions including the installation of the work, choice of display material and lighting. The selection procedure involves artists submitting a CV and a CD of their work.

The considerable national and international interest in this project has demonstrated its relevance to other communities.

The Town Centre Coordinator has helped to shape national policy to make it easier for other towns to use vacant shops for similar purposes, and is able to advise on issues such as business rates, negotiating with landlords, and producing template legal documents.

Funding, future financial viability and outcomes

Project Funding 2008/ 09

Evidence of outcomes: of the four shops, two have been let to new tenants and one has been sold for redevelopment.

Project Funding 2009/10

Purpose: This year we have budgeted to pay the artist co-ordinator to organise 16 exhibitions – 8 in the remaining gallery and 8 in another vacant shop which we plan to convert.

Key partners

• Dursley Town Council
• Karen Hilliard – local artist

OVERALL WINNER

Winner – Business and Economy category

Summary

Shirebrook Business Centre was completed in April 2009, following an extensive refurbishment of a former railway station ticket office.   The derelict building was untouched for 10 years prior to this project and following its recent completion offers new and young businesses the opportunity to grow within a professional environment.

Overview

Following the signing of contracts for the project in December 2007, the project was able to start in January 2008 with Potts Parry Ives and Young Architects (PPIY) working alongside the Council and partners to produce the designs for the new centre.  The building has many unique features, and PPIY fully accentuated the features and character of the building through this design.

Construction on site started in June 2008, involving full external works including a new roof, retaining existing tiles where possible, and new windows in line with requirements of the Council’s Conservation Officer to restore the original character of the building.  Internally, there has been work to restore additional features of the building, for example using lime plaster on the walls, as well as to provide all the required facilities including new office units, kitchenette, toilets, a waiting area, heating, lighting, communication and ICT plus broadband.  All the work had to meet Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requirements.

The project was completed in March 2009 with the premises finished to a high standard providing high quality, affordable, self-contained accommodation complete with car parking and good transport links.  The local business advisor and a private sector businessman established a social enterprise in late 2008 to manage the Centre.

Need, purpose and community involvement

Shirebrook has experienced rising levels of unemployment and low aspirations over recent years.  However, investment into the town has begun to raise aspirations and local residents are taking advantage of employment opportunities.

As part of the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative in 2006, a BizFizz advisor was located in Shirebrook, with the aim of encouraging local individuals to establish their own businesses.  The BizFizz programme has been a greater success than anticipated with over 50 successful local businesses created in its lifetime.  The problem that arose afterwards, however, was the lack of accommodation available across Shirebrook for businesses as they continued to grow out of the ‘back bedroom’.  With the majority of premises occupied, further accommodation was needed.  This project aimed to address the need identified by the local business community and feasibility study by providing appropriately sized offices in a location where businesses had established their customer base.

The local business community, railway history interest groups, and Shirebrook Secondary School’s history group have all been involved in the project’s development as well as providing public information displays for the building’s waiting room, showcasing the extensive history of the building and the railway line.

Two further feasibility studies are underway. One to redevelop a second station building in Creswell further along the same Robin Hood Line and another to develop a new enterprise centre in close proximity to Shirebrook Business Centre to encourage the development of a business network and wider business-to-business interaction.

Innovation, learning points and transferability

The project not only brings a former derelict building back in to use, but has restored the original features and character of the building through its design and materials, while ushering it into the 21st Century with new technology that includes an air source heat pump, insulation, and the latest in ICT.

The standard of finish has been meticulous and features of the building have been approved by the Council’s Conservation Officer which means original characteristics have been reinstated into the Centre.  The building, not formally listed or in a conservation area, was restored with the intention of preserving the building’s original features by obtaining listed status or similar.

Original features maintained and restored included:

• Roof slate, ridge tiles
• Barge boards
• Cast iron rainwater goods
• Stone work
• Lime plaster
• Sash windows
• Colour scheme matching that of Midland Railway’s original colours
• Ornate coving, skirting and architrave

The high standard was achieved by contracting local specialists including stonemasons and craftsmen.

By using a charitable organisation and local labour/suppliers we achieved financial and environmental efficiencies.  The project also provided training for individuals with transferable skills for similar future projects – a practice which can be adopted both locally and nationally.

Funding, future financial viability and outcomes

The total cost for the completion of the Centre was near to £300,000, which was funded through the Railway Heritage Trust and the Alliance for Enterprise, 40% and 60% respectively.  A further in-kind contribution was made from Bolsover District Council through officer time in management of the project.

The project has provided the Centre with 5 furnished office units available for let to new and young businesses at a cost of £55 – £75 per office unit per week.  This is inclusive of all costs except for telephone calls and business rates.

The income generated through rental of the units will cover all building overheads, which are also kept to a minimum through using renewable energy within the building.

A sustainable model has been developed for the future of the building through its management by a Social Enterprise.  All income generated will cover overheads, and any profits reinvested into the local business community as there is no management fee as there would be through an agent or management company.  Although businesses occupying the offices are new or young businesses, the risk of failure is mitigated by the in-house business support which is available from the BizFizz advisor, who is also a partner in the Social Enterprise.

When the Centre was opened on 14 April 2009, two of the five units were occupied, with interest in the remaining three.  Flexible entry/exit terms and the current level of interest at such an early stage are positive reinforcement that such office accommodation is needed within the local business community and will ensure the building is sustainable in the future.

Key partners

• Groundwork Creswell
• Potts Parry Ives and Young (PPIY) Architects
• Railway Heritage Trust
• Alliance for Enterprise
• Shirebrook Business Services Ltd