Winner – Partnership and Strategic Working category

Summary

The ‘Empty Shop Scheme – Melton Arts & Crafts Trail’ project was developed as a priority action from business and community consultation.  It sought to give vitality to the town centre and its vacant units, both visually and culturally.  It also sought to promote and maximise inward investment, and reduce vacant unit rates – to drive the town centre’s economy forward.

Overview

Local businesses, visitors and community groups participated in the Welland benchmarking surveys in May 2009 to give feedback on their perception of the town, its strengths, barriers to growth and key priority areas.  Key elements summarised within subsequent consultation and surveys included improving the appearance of the town, better access to arts and culture, improving the town’s brand and image, and developing and promoting the diversity of retail in the town centre.

The Empty Shop Scheme sought to visually enhance the vacant units within the town centre in response to this consultation.  With a difficult economic climate and rising vacant unit rate (7.6%), many of the town centre’s vacant units had been vacant for 12 months or more, and were located predominantly in low footfall areas.  This was in turn impacting economically upon other businesses within the area, and also upon the perception of the town’s prosperity, both in terms of visitors and inward investment.

Consultation with visitors and businesses also reflected a greater need for arts and culture within the town centre, to strengthen the town’s brand and image, and also encourage greater visitor flow.  Following liaisons with the Melton Arts Society and local artists, a core group of local artists and craft workshops was formed and the Melton Arts & Crafts Trail devised.  The Trail targeted long-term vacant units within the town centre, which were located in prime low footfall areas. This sought not only to visually enhance these  areas, and increase visitor flow but to maximise inward investment potential in these keys units, and reduce vacant unit rates.

Partnership working with Melton Borough Council and local property agents allowed 6 long-term vacant units in low footfall areas to be transformed into vibrant art galleries over a 6 week period.  A Trail leaflet, posters and window stickers were produced for each unit to encourage visitors to follow the full trail and maximise visitor/pedestrian flow to all 6 units.  A total of 21 artists participated in the scheme – including a sculptress, woodturner, pottery club and artists – which attracted local and regional media interest throughout the 6 week period, including BBC East Midlands Today, BBC Radio Leicester and more.

Need, purpose and community involvement

Survey work and consultation within the town centre’s community, visitor and business groups highlighted a need for a more prosperous town centre, a better brand and image and more inward investment to promote the retail mix.

The Empty Shop Scheme aimed to benefit businesses and property agents within the town centre by increasing footfall and visitor flow to low footfall areas, and maximising potential investment in the increasing number of long-term vacant units in key areas. The scheme enhanced partnership working at all levels within the community, from local artists and Arts Society, to property agents, landlords, authorities, visitors and businesses with the common goal of a more prosperous town.

Business confidence received a boost with increased visitor flow (including to the vacant units) and media coverage of the Trail.  One unit in Sherrard Street received over 2000 visitors over a 3 week period, 300 on the first day of opening.  Local agent Shoulers commented, “The recent downturn has sadly seen many shops become empty in the town.  Shoulers and our shop owners are pleased to be part of the artists’ initiative”. One of the vacant units, which was part of the scheme is now under offer.

The Melton Arts and Crafts Trail also improved the appearance of these low footfall areas and met the ever growing demand for arts, heritage and culture within the town, which benefited businesses and visitors alike.  The Trail was a key visitor draw and helped shape the branding of the town around the promotion of its strong arts culture.  The look and overall image of the town centre was also supported via the Empty Shop Scheme by the Business Improvement grants being offered to businesses under the Welland Challenge Fund 2009 to improve and enhance business premises.

Innovation, learning points and transferability

The Empty Shop Scheme was developed, following business/community and visitor consultation, to address priorities for the town centre.  It has been innovative, in that it has met key priorities for the town centre through strong partnership working at all levels, and with limited funding.  Local authorities and property agents have offered vacant units rental and rate free over a given period, to enhance and transform these units into vibrant art galleries.  This in turn has met business and visitor needs alike for a better image, branding and retail mix within the town centre.  It has reinforced the need to include demand for arts/heritage/culture within the Town Centre’s Action Plan.

The project has also shown how, during a difficult economic time, business confidence and community networking can be boosted, footfall increased, inward investment promoted and town centre image heightened with regional press coverage of the scheme, including local media, BBC East Midlands Today and others.

The Empty Shop Scheme is a key topical project now for many town centres and one that with shared best practice and partnership working can be transferred to invigorate and transform town centres.  Shared practice of licence agreements, rental and rate reliefs and shared artist communities can enhance the appearance of town centres and boost local communities, more so than just dressing unit windows.  The project has also shown that with partnership and community working, through local authorities, agents, landlords, business and community groups, it can boost visitor and business confidence, increase footfall and visitor flow, and generate inward investment during difficult economic times.  We are already in liaison with other Leicestershire towns to expand similar town centre schemes regionally, for example, through shared community groups.

Funding, future financial viability and outcomes

Support and funding of the Empty Shop Scheme came through close partnership working with Melton Town Centre Partnership, the Melton Arts Society/artists, Melton Borough Council and local property agents, Shoulers and Andrew & Ashwell.  As part of the Partnership initiative, artists were permitted to use the units on a rental and rate free basis over a 6 week period to:

• promote the arts and heritage culture in the town centre
• promote the vacant units for potential start-up businesses and investment
• improve the appearance of the vacant units and town centre alike

The Partnership is now seeking to relaunch the scheme on a long-term basis, via artists taking on leases of units, and discretionary rate relief.

The principle outcomes of the project were:

• Increased Footfall and Visitor Flow to low footfall streets – annual and quarterly footfall counts show an increase
• Increased Visitor Satisfaction – quarterly/event visitor surveys & public feedback from media coverage
• Improved Appearance – improved with Empty Shop Scheme, and Welland Challenge Fund 09 – Business Improvement Grants
• Vacant Unit count – recorded monthly, with monthly liaison with agents/landlords to maximise inward investment.

Key partners

The Melton Town Centre Partnership comprises representatives from local businesses, Leicestershire County Council, Melton Borough Council, voluntary organisations and other key stakeholders within the town centre, including the Melton Town Estate and Chamber of Trade.  Other key partners involved in the delivery of the Empty Shop Scheme project were the Melton Arts Society and local artists, and property agents, Shoulers and Andrew & Ashwell.

Winner – Environment and Culture category

Summary

Ashbourne shouted about its history with the launch of a new Visible Heritage Project.  The project, part of the Ashbourne Partnership’s heritage initiative, includes a new town map, heritage panels, heritage brochure, children’s fun heritage leaflet and a first for the town, tour guides for visitors and residents.

The project, which is the inspiration of the Ashbourne Partnership and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Derbyshire County Council, Ashbourne Heritage Society, Ashbourne Rotary Club and Derbyshire Dales County Council, will put Ashbourne centre stage on the tourist map.

Overview

The project includes new display boards in a variety of styles to suit the locations and have been specially commissioned.

The new town map featuring original art work by a well known local artist shows the streets and buildings of Ashbourne in a unique and colourful easy-to-follow form.

We also have heritage panels created by the Ashbourne Heritage Society describing some of the events, locations and people that have put the quiet market town of Ashbourne centre stage in national events over the centuries and left a legacy of fine buildings and quaint alleys which offer the visitor a unique experience, and new leaflets outlining the history of Ashbourne including a new children’s leaflet, designed by children.

The Visible Heritage Project not only includes the signs and leaflets, but also volunteer tour guides – a first for the town.  A group of local history enthusiasts who come from a wide range of backgrounds reveal the hidden stories behind the buildings that make Ashbourne such a unique destination. The tours are free of charge to anyone of any age who wishes to hear the fascinating stories about the town.

Need, purpose and community involvement

Without the opportunity to have a heritage centre in the town centre, the Partnership wanted to ensure that the town’s history would not be lost and become more visible to visitors and residents.

The project team identified key areas of how to promote its history, by providing reading material for all ages, signs, but also wanted the personal touch in relaying the town’s history and this led to the volunteer tour guides.

The project highlighted that you don’t need an actual building or facility, which would be an added bonus, to shout about the history of a town.   Each aspect of the project involved a visual aspect, for example, the signs were hand drawn to show the architecture and character of the town, a children’s heritage leaflet created by children at the local grammar school also involved local artists, individuals, groups and companies to ensure a continuous community link.

The project has included individuals from the local Historian Society, general public, tourist information centre, artists and designers to the younger generation all working together to bring the town’s history to life. The project has forged relationships for future historical projects that will provide more cohesion and participation for the benefit for all now and in the future. The prime example is the volunteer guides who come from a varied background to learn and teach others the history of Ashbourne.

Innovation, learning points and transferability

The idea of promoting a town’s history is not a new one and many do so extremely well.  However for a small market town without the opportunity to have a museum or a centre to boast about its history, the project allowed the town to promote its rich history in an effective, quality assured way and actually reaches a wider audience as the history is on the streets and not tucked away.

Each aspect of the project (quality display boards, leaflets and so on) was designed to engage the audience and to enthuse and educate at all levels of interest and not just history experts.  All areas were designed to last not just for this year but for the future.

The project has highlighted the opportunity to bring groups together and provide that thinking out of the box from different aspects to achieve something better than nothing.

It also allowed those passionate about their town to actually work together to achieve a common aim.

It enabled the town to promote its history and reach a wide audience as possible without the use of an actual dedicated building.   This would hopefully provide encouragement and inspiration to other areas wishing that they had a way to promote their historical facts in a manageable format.

Funding, future financial viability and outcomes

Funding was gained from the Heritage Lottery – £37,000
Match funding from Derbyshire County Council – £8,000
Volunteer time and effort (priceless)- £5,000 based on 34 days at £150 per day

Plans for the future:

• All frames and signs have been made to a high quality and have UV plastic fronts which can be maintained easily if vandalised.
• Location of signs in pedestrian areas to avoid any vehicle damage and a safer environment for all to read and view.
• Costs for re-printing leaflets, and sponsorship and match funding will be sourced for this.  The project team has ensured that the current printed material will last for at least three years.
• Children’s leaflet created in black and white for photocopying.
• No other costs anticipated in the immediate future for other aspects.

Castle Douglas was identified as a small town in a sparsely populated rural area which had successfully established itself as a food town. The Louth Town Partnership’s aim was to learn from Castle Douglas how to build a successful brand and understand more fully the process and the possible pitfalls.

Overview

The Town Manager, two members of the Louth Town Partnership Food Group and the Manager of the Tastes of Lincolnshire initiative had organized, in advance, a number of meetings with key members of the team who set up the Castle Douglas Food Town Initiative.

Work went into researching the area before the team travelled to Scotland and the quartet had drawn up a framework of aspects of the Food Town they wanted to address to avoid reinventing the wheel in Louth.

It was quite evident the sub-regional tourism product is better developed  than ours in East Lindsey (efforts here are concentrated on the coast) and their market towns more focused on survival, with Castle Douglas designated as a food town, Wigtown as Scotland’s Book Town and Kirkudbright is a centre for the arts.

Castle Douglas is smaller than Louth, servicing a hinterland of around 20,000 with meat production and tourism its main economic drivers. There are two weekly cattle markets and there are plans for a new £3m state of the art abattoir to be located nearby.

Like Louth, Castle Douglas has a wide variety of specialty shops selling quality products. While there are two supermarkets as there are in Louth, Tescos  was granted planning permission on very strict conditions so as to keep its effect on local outlets to a minimum. There are four very busy butchers  selling only locally sourced meats and value added products, a number of delicatessens whose counters also have a selection of local produced cheeses and jams, and bakers selling a good range of local specialties as well as a wide selection of other independent shops but no national chains.

Need, purpose and community involvement

Our first meeting was with Stephen Groome, a relative newcomer to the area, who had the vision and was prepared to do the groundwork drawing on his previous marketing experience in industry. He is paid for his services  as the “Food Town Officer” but the other Food Town Group members are all volunteers.

Stephen had a budget for publicity but this was very stretched and likely to become more so with the economic climate. His enthusiasm was shared by the members of the town’s Food Group, who were all volunteers, and who ran successful food businesses in the town and the hinterland. Cleverly he had incorporated “an unique shopping experience” into his Food Town logo.

He organizes an annual Food Town Day featuring Dumfries and Galloway products and an annual Christmas shopping extravaganza with fireworks and bands. He said over 60 per cent of local shops supported this late night venture with over half saying it had been commercially successful. Unfortunately regular food markets suffered from lack of stallholder interest.

Food Town signs on the outskirts of Castle Douglas had been sponsored half by the council and half by Tescos!

The Louth Group also met local producers, members of Savour the Flavours, to gauge how a Food Town designation supports them, sometimes with surprising results! Some had been so successful they had been drawn to Farmers’ Markets in Glasgow and Edinburgh where they could achieve higher prices for their goods. This success adds to the viability of the local area but it poses problems for local organizers who are striving to run thriving local food markets. Loyalty to the cause and support for the community – old fashioned virtues which are still to be found in rural areas – appear to be strong however.

We brought back to Louth a strong message that a website was a must with strong branding and a catchy logo. It was apparent that our offer was far greater than that at Castle Douglas and if they had been successful in launching themselves as a Food Town it was well within Louth’s capabilities. The Food Group, part of the Louth Partnership, is now working on a number of strands to further embed Louth as a Food Town with marketing initiatives, a planned food trail and other food tourist leaflets as well as three  specialist markets in coming months, all with a Foodie flavour.

Members of the Partnership have been on a full training course on running events and they are now fully versed in the technicalities of mounting shows and markets, a leaflet is waiting to be printed and a new logo is designed and in use. Louth Food Town has a presence on Facebook and a website has been commissioned but is not up and running yet. A loyalty card is planned and talks are in an early stage on internet sales too.

Innovation, learning points and transferability

Meeting Simone Tyrie from the Dumfries Council encouraged us to take a long hard look at our PR and Marketing strategies for becoming a Food Town.

Rural areas need to get the message out to a wide area, so using the internet is a vital tool. Setting up an exciting Food Town website that will be both useful and eye-catching, with interactive sections and localized recipes was an imperative. This will require the Food Group to profile local producers, carry information on local restaurants, hotels and holiday cottages, highlight Farmers’ Markets and have pages for children to enjoy as well. Simone suggested we should also upload local foodie videos and institute a foodie chat room too.

Raising awareness of local food also has the benefit of educating residents in healthy eating and cutting down food miles. It also brings the advantage of encouraging local people to work together in a positive way.

The Louth team has also taken up the idea of appointing a Food Champion and Food Ambassadors. Emily Roberts, who is a television cook, is undertaking the adult role and we have two young girls Maisie and Skye who are enthusiastic cooks who are Young Ambassadors. They have already appeared in the local paper and they will appear on a television programme in the summer too.

This information is useful to other towns who could adapt their offer appropriately e.g. a book town could use the template and so could a town with say an antiques’ offer.

Other towns hoping to follow in these footsteps should remember that money is very short, so much will depend on volunteers and they may like to have a thorough debate about “the purity of the market” before they set about writing copy for leaflets and their website. This saves time …and some falling out!

Funding

Louth Town Partnership received a Towns-4-Towns Exchange Fund Grant of £500 towards the costs of visiting and learning from Castle Douglas and towards initial marketing costs.

Schemes are being developed at community level, typically providing energy for tens or a few hundred homes.

Settle Hydro is such a scheme and this case study shows how the local team went about it.

Settle Hydro is a great example of a project that has been developed by the local community for the local community. It tackles a 21st century dilemma that affects everyone – the search for sustainable energy.

Settle Going Green was established in the market town of Settle, North Yorkshire, with the aims of:

• Being recognised as the ‘Greenest’ Community within North Yorkshire.
• Being seen as a role model for the achievement of significant ‘green’ performance improvement through community-led action.
• Making a significant contribution to the regeneration of the local economy.
• Making a significant contribution to the enhancement of community spirit and cohesion.

The project involved installing a 50kW Archimedean screw at Settle Weir, near Bridge End Mill, close to an original waterwheel and used part of the existing millrace.

It will generate about 165,000 kWh (units) of electricity a year – enough for around 50 average houses – saving 80 tonnes of carbon a year or 3,200 tonnes of carbon over its expected lifetime of 40 years.

Settle Hydro was established as an ‘Industrial and Provident Society for the Benefit of the Community’ with the specific purpose of owning the Settle Weir Hydro Electric Scheme. It will generate revenue by selling ‘green’ hydro-electricity. Any surplus revenue will be used by the society to benefit the local community through its twin aims of regenerating the local economy and promoting the environmental sustainability of Settle District.

The formation of Settle Hydro was jointly sponsored by StART (the Settle Area Regeneration Team), Settle District Chamber of Trade and Settle Going Green. Its founding directors are Steve Amphlett (chair of Settle District Chamber of Trade), Ann Harding (chair of StART) and Helen Walker (director of h2oPE – Water Power Enterprises), none of whom will receive any financial remuneration from the Society.

Part of the finance for the scheme was raised by selling shares in the society to members of the public. As the funds raised from the share issue are for a public-spirited ‘not-for-profit’ organisation, any investment in Settle Hydro Ltd is regarded as a social and not a financial investment. The remainder of the required finance has been raised from grants and a bank loan.

To find out more, including finance and funding, project partners and the project outcomes, download the full ‘Settle Hydro: generating renewable electricity for the community’ case study as a pdf.

Settle Hydro’s website and blog is at: www.settlehydro.org.uk
Settle Going Green’s website is at: www.greensettle.org.uk
Water Power Enterprises – h2ope has a website at: www.h2ope.org.uk