An alternative view for the high street

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Paul Turner-Mitchell

The much anticipated 'Grimsey Review', an independent review produced by a team of experienced professionals who are passionate about the future of our town centres and the general state of the economy, has been published today.

Local retailer Paul Turner-Mitchell and Simon Danczuk's right-hand man, Matt Baker, are two of the Grimsey review team.

This review bills itself as 'fact based and evidence is fully referenced. It covers all aspects of commercial and social activity impacting on town communities including high streets, shopping centres, out of town shopping parks, shopping malls as well as local economic and community needs such as health, housing, education, manufacturing, agriculture, entertainment and tourism.'

Three conclusions were reached:

• Town centre/high street plans must encompass a complete community hub solution incorporating; health, housing, education, arts, entertainment, business/office space, manufacturing and leisure,whilst developing day time, evening time and night time cultures where shops are just a part of the total plan.
• A number of radical government actions are required in order to create a level playing field which will provide conditions for town centres to facilitate change, encourage local investment, cutting through red tape and providing a common set of measures to track performance.
• A methodology and timetable is required to enable all local authorities to produce a town centre business plan complete with timelines, capital and revenue costs and bene" ts. The output for each town centre will be different identifying their own individual selling proposition and vision based on their unique heritage.

The report calls for the following to be recognised:

• Previous initiatives have failed because they did not have defined targets and measures in place.
• The Government must have a structured framework complete with a timetable to bring about measurable change and improvements.
• Local people have an important role to play and have demonstrated an enormous amount of enthusiasm as evidenced from the Portas Pilots. However, coordination, guidance and management are vital if progress is to be made.
• Creativity and innovation can be encouraged and fostered whilst working inside clear guidelines. The future of our economy depends on thriving, vibrant micro economies across the nation and reform is required now.

It is understood that at least one national newspaper will run a feature based on Rochdale in light of the report - Rochdale was one of the towns the Grimsey team visited. In addition the BBC is understood to be filming and will broadcast a programme from Rochdale.

The full 59 page review can be downloaded in PDF format from the link below.

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