There is an undoubted need to update and refresh our approaches to town centre development. If TV celebrities can help make this a reality, so much the better
Over the weekend the twelve town centres selected to be the first Portas pilots were announced. Housing Minister Grant Shapps toured the TV studios to praise ‘the exceptional quality of the winning bids’. In fact, so impressed was he with the 371 applications received that he announced a second round of Portas pilots, with 15 more town centres to be chosen later in the year.
Each town will receive a slice of the £1.2m fund. They will then, with the help of Mary Portas, the television presenter and government’s ‘High Street Tsar’, use the money to try to liven up derelict shops, start new markets and advertise shopping areas.
The pilots will also form part of a television series, fronted by Ms Portas. One could argue that the use of a celebrity is flippant. I note that Dragon’s Den’er James Caan was appointed by Lord Young to chair the youth start-ups loan fund, also announced this week.
But with only a relatively small amount of money on offer, this project needed a recognised personality to lead it. Would 371 town centres have taken to time to apply if this was headed by a DCLG minister?
The Portas pilots are not just about the cash: they are about raising the profile of town centres which want to build towards a sustainable future. It is more style than substance.
Look outside the Portas pilots and you find many cities looking for innovative ways to reach new audiences. This week Nottingham City Council joined in to support the efforts of local people and businesses to get the #nottinghamrocks hashtag trending on Twitter – which it did.
There is a huge amount to learn from such good (and poor) practice and a lot of ongoing innovation to generate ideas and initiatives. This learning can take the form of specific case studies as mentioned in the Portas Review, it could take the form of ‘imagineering’, such as in this recent piece in the national media, or it could take the form of informal networking and collaboration events.
And this learning does not just come from within authorities either. The portaspilots.com website has been set up by residents in these town to tell their own stories of how the pilots ‘change the places we love’ (I wonder how this website will differ from the TV programme?).
As we move forward with localism, getting energy into local democracy is crucial and all methods will be explored. If sometimes a celebrity is the catalyst for this then expect to see a lot being invited down to Whitehall.
Rob Dale leads on digital engagement and communications at the Local Government Information Unit
