Toolkit suggests road to recovery and renewal for Kent high streets
Tuesday 27 September, 2022Toolkit suggests road to recovery and renewal for Kent high streets
Independent think-tank Localis has today published a policy toolkit setting out how high streets across Kent and Medway are tackling a changing and challenging retail landscape.
Entitled ‘Recovery and Renewal on the Kent High Street’ the practical study sets out concrete examples of how Kent’s local centres are adapting with a sense of determination, ingenuity and resilience to maintain a sense of pride in place amid a fast-changing retail and cultural climate.
Originally commissioned in winter 2021 by Kent County Council working with Medway Council and Kent’s Boroughs and Districts, and prompted by the urgency of sustaining a post-Covid local economy recovery, the toolkit captured local knowledge and experience alongside wider national learning.
Drawing on experience from stakeholders across Kent’s local government and business community, the toolkit considers a number of factors local economies are contending with, including the balance between retail, leisure and other offers, success factors underpinning strong town centre performance and the role of local authorities in nurturing high streets.
Designed as an aid to local economic development practitioners and experts, the policy options covered include placemaking, coping with post-pandemic changes to the high street, decarbonisation and sustainability, labour markets, diversity on the high street mix and how to overcome barriers to recovery.
Localis chief executive, Jonathan Werran, said: “Driving innovation in the centre of towns will be crucial to their short-term survival and long-term renaissance and ensuring residents feel a strong sense of pride in place.
“Local government, as the key institutional player in the long-term management of high streets and town centres will, as this toolkit outlines, have to prove adept and adroit in making use of the tools and resources at its disposal.”
Cllr Roger Gough, Leader of Kent County Council, said: “A vibrant high street or town centre is central to local growth and a sense of place – this first Localis policy toolkit offers an array of ideas and options showing how by working together nationally and locally we may achieve this.
“For a national Government rightly intent on Levelling Up, the high street has taken on a new importance. This report offers a portfolio of local solutions and national policy ideas which could make levelling up on our high streets a reality.”
ENDSPress enquiries:
Jonathan Werran, chief executive, Localis
(Telephone) 0870 448 1530 / (Mobile) 07967 100328 / (Email) jonathan.werran@localis.org.uk
Notes to Editors:An advance copy of the policy toolkit is available for download here[insert link]
A webinar will take place on from 12 noon to 1.00 p.m. Tuesday 27 September to promote the findings.
Speakers will include:
• Matt Baker, Urban Regeneration Specialist, member of the Grimsey Review
• Cllr Roger Gough, leader, Kent County Council
• Tracey Kerly, Chief Executive and Andrew Osborne, Head of Economic Development, Ashford Borough Council
• Dr Jackie Mulligan, Director, ShopAppy.com
To take part, register your place via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/recovery-and-renewal-on-the-kent-high-street-tickets-415179682607
About LocalisLocalis is an independent think-tank dedicated to issues related to politics, public service reform and localism. We carry out innovative research, hold events and facilitate an ever growing network of members to stimulate and challenge the current orthodoxy of the governance of the UK.
www.localis.org.uk
Background to the toolkit
In winter 2021, prompted by the urgency of a sustained post-Covid local economy recovery, Kent County Council working with Medway Council and Kent’s Districts and Boroughs commissioned Localis to undertake a study to capture local knowledge and experience from across Kent and Medway and combine this with wider national learning to develop a toolkit enabling places across the county to draw from the successes and experiments of others.
With the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill now published – and new powers set to be introduced to tackle the scourge of empty shops – Localis’s toolkit offers complementary local solutions and national policy ideas which could make levelling up on our high streets a reality.
In the light of the future challenges facing the high street amid a deepening cost-of-living crisis, Kent’s local centres have already provided excellent and concrete examples of places overcoming with a sense of determination, optimism and positivity.
Localis’s toolkit, entitled “Recovery and renewal on the high street in Kent”:
• gathers multiple local perspectives on the issues facing local town centres in Kent;
• highlights innovative ideas that have been developed locally;
• presents a number of policy options and;
• outlines some themes for further investigation
The research underpinning the toolkit was guided by and answers the following questions that have
been informed by stakeholders from across Kent:
1. What will the future high street and town centre look like?
2. Where are current examples of success, nationally and internationally, and how have they been achieved? What was their evolution and how much would apply to Kent and Medway?
3. Are there common elements of best practice or will these vary according to place?
4. What can we learn from recent national and local reports on high streets/town centres?
5. What is the balance between the retail, leisure and/or other offers? What is the opportunity for diversification?
6. What is the role of local authorities and local agencies in growing the high street?
7. What is the risk from Permitted Development Rights and similar legislation and could local action be taken to minimise risk to the high street?
8. What are the wider costs of failing high streets and town centres?
9. What can we learn from the decline of high streets and the failure of key businesses to support new business-led development?
10. Can we define KPIs for high streets and town centres to monitor performance and measure community value?
The research was kindly sponsored by Kent County Council and Kent County Council’s Helping Hands Scheme, and involved support and involvement from:Ashford Borough CouncilCanterbury City CouncilDartford Borough CouncilDover District CouncilFolkestone and Hythe District CouncilGravesham Borough CouncilMaidstone Borough CouncilSevenoaks Borough CouncilSwale District CouncilThanet District CouncilTonbridge and Malling Borough CouncilTunbridge Wells Borough CouncilMedway CouncilDistributed by https://pressat.co.uk/