Mary Portas £10K funding lift for Tewkesbury High Street
COMMUNITY leaders in Tewkesbury are celebrating being awarded £10,000 to help breathe new life into the town's High Street.
The Government funding is part of the national Mary Portas Town Team Initiative, aimed at improving high streets and making them the beating hearts of their communities.
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Making plans: Lead member for economic development David Waters and joint chairman of the Tewkesbury Town Centre Community Engagement Advisory Group Dave Witts in the town's High Street
Tewkesbury previously missed out on getting £100,000 under the Portas Pilots project but has now been successful in its bid for the similar Town Team scheme.
According to retail guru and TV personality Mary Portas, people need to form a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for their High Street.
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Members of the Tewkesbury Town Centre Community Engagement Advisory Group (CEAG) are involved in trying to make her vision a reality.
Dave Witts, the joint chairman of the group, said it was too early to know exactly how the £10,000 would be spent but he promised it would be put to good use.
He said: "We've got a marketing workshop on November 7, when we'll discuss this. We've got £10,000 and it will be spent wisely."
As part of the initiative, the borough council teamed up with the advisory group and Tewkesbury MP Laurence Robertson to sign a pledge to make Tewkesbury a Town Team Partner.
The council said the Town Team would use the money to develop projects which support the High Street and get more people using its shops. It said this might see the creation of a local enterprise hub, which businesses could use for training and promotion.
Other ideas, the council said, included finding ways of lifting the night-time economy and asking consumers what kind of shops they want to see in the High Street.
As well as the money, Tewkesbury will get support from business experts and have the chance to meet regularly with other Town Teams to share experiences and lessons learned.
The council's lead member for economic development and promotion, Councillor Dave Waters, said: "This is a fantastic boost for Tewkesbury town centre. We're keen to work with residents, businesses and organisations to ensure this funding makes a difference to the town centre."
Mr Robertson said he was delighted that Tewkesbury had been given the money as part of a "very exciting" scheme.
Comments
by FreeRadical1
Friday, November 02 2012, 4:48PM
“The headline implies that the money is coming from Mary Portas. It isn't. It's coming from tax payers, via the government. Mary Portas swans around like Lady Muck, but she doesn't give any of her own money. In fact, she often finds ways of making money for herself out of all the publicity. Nice work if you can get it.”
by Glosfolk
Friday, November 02 2012, 12:54PM
“£10,000 would pay for entertainers to perform most days of the week to brighten up the High Street, and make Tewkesbury a more interesting place to visit!”
by NibNobs
Thursday, November 01 2012, 7:48PM
“Spend the money on giving free 2 hour parking for shoppers/visitors. I stopped going to the high street when the parking wardens booked everything & everybody when people just need to nip into the bank in the pouring rain. If you look at Morrisons on any day, most of the people shop there because it's more conveinient than the town centre, free parking, free loos. Sadly for Tewkesbury the new Sainsbury's will kill even more of the town centre off.”
by dontyaknow
Thursday, November 01 2012, 7:10PM
“Agree with safeandnice - finishing the bypass would be the best way to alleviate traffic on the High St.”
by safeandnice
Thursday, November 01 2012, 12:45AM
“yes as was pointed out at the time if you make a one way system you not only have to cater for the same amounto traffic as you have now but you also have to add traffic that has to circulate to get to where it wants to go.
If you want to move traffic away from the High street you need the link road from Mitton towards Morrisons under the railway bridge.
Assuming you want to move traffic away from town.
Have the High Street changes made it safer and more popular than it was?”
by MarkC11
Wednesday, October 31 2012, 4:30PM
“aroakley to be fair to GCC they did propose this but this led to a campaign in the Town against it. It would seem harsh to blame GCC for not doing this when it was local residents who wanted it stopped, there is also the issue of the MOP to consider.”
by aroakley
Wednesday, October 31 2012, 3:57PM
“How about we spend the money on couple of one-way signs? Make Tewkesbury High Street one-way and push contra traffic down Oldbury Road, so that we can make the pavements on High Street wider, so that pedestrians don't feel they're taking their lives into their hands every time they step out of a shop? Y'know, like we should have done six months ago when the council wasted God-knows how much putting in a few bollards? Two or three one-way signs and maybe a set of traffic lights at the junction between Barton Street and Oldbury Road/Nelson Street and it's job done. Or spend the money hiring a lawyer to point out to the Highways Agency just how incompetent they are regarding the current traffic flow along High Street.”
by Shireresident
Wednesday, October 31 2012, 1:12PM
“I fail to see how this money can be of any use in the current economic situation, let's face it, it wouldn't even buy a decent family car let alone save an ailing High Street. I'd like to know what the total pot of money for these schemes is nationwide. The government would be better advised to spend this money where it can help mitigate cuts to the NHS schools and police rather than throwing dribs and drabs thinly in areas where the dosh will make no difference.”