Last week Canterbury BID was delighted to attend and take part in the ATCM Place Management Conference ‘Death of the High Street?’
180 people attended the event at The Crystal in East London to discuss high street sustainability. We were treated to informative presentations, heated panel debates and uplifting messages about the power of partnership and community. We were joined by a minister, shadow ministers, councils, BIDs, academics, planners, retailers and even Channel 4 who are preparing for a news segment on the High Street 2030 UK Parliamentary Inquiry which is likely to be published this month.
Here are just a few highlights of the event:
Jim McMahon MP, Chair of the APPG for Town Centres and Shadow Minister for Local Government and Devolution, opened the conference outlining how government needs to respond to the significant industrial change occurring in communities everywhere.
Mrs Heather Wheeler, Minister for Housing and Homelessness, provided a UK Government perspective, highlighting the support on offer to town centres through the Future High Streets Fund.
The first panel debate ‘The Future High Street – From Concept to Delivery’ opened up a discussion about the planning system and the challenges of moulding a town centre to meet the aspirations of a community with the role of the market and government planning policy being criticised.
The panel included:
Alison Harvey, Planning Officer and Programmes Manager, The Heritage Council
Steve Norris, Head of Regeneration and Destination, Lambert Smith Hampton
Bill Esterson MP, Shadow Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Phil Prentice, Chief Officer, Scotland’s Towns Partnership
Victoria Hills MRTPI FICE, CEO, The Royal Town Planning Institute
The second panel debate was the showpiece. ‘Death of the High Street – True or False?’ was a robust discussion about the balance between commercial and residential uses in town centres and the tools used to deliver this balance. The debate was skilfully chaired by Lisa Carlson, Chief Executive of Canterbury Connected BID.
Panel included:
David Fitzsimons, Group Chief Executive, Retail Excellence
Professor Cathy Parker, Co-Chair, Institute of Place Management
Mark Robinson, President, Revo
Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, Centre for Cities
Short video highlights from the conference are available here.
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Article taken from: www.atcm.org
