Chris Wade FIPM’s Post

My contribution to the latest opinion piece for the Institute of Place Management blog reflects on the recent High Streets (Designation, Review, and Improvement Plan) Bill. The Bill, currently awaiting scrutiny at the Committee stage, will require local authorities to designate up to three areas as 'high streets' and produce improvement plans undergoing five-year cycles of reassessments. Importantly, the clauses of the Bill do not involve other place stakeholders in high street designation and improvement plan development. The work of the High Streets Task Force and IPM has shown that a new approach to high street regeneration, stemming from organic partnership formation, is the most impactful way for immediate yet enduring place transformation. The implementation of a shared vision engaging partnerships in place governance helps develop a sense of belonging, strengthening place identity, and fostering ties between councils, local organisations, residents, and visitors of the high streets catchment area. Drawing on evidence reported in the latest IPM report about HSTF's uncovering of high street challenges from visits to over 140 towns, it is clear that if policy (i) does not facilitate place-based, organic partnership formation for high street improvement plans; and (ii) favours a top-down approach centred on councils' designation of high street areas; then achieving 'quick wins' or enduring impact in high street revitalisation is unlikely. I would like to thank Matthew Davis FIPM for his support. Link in the comments #UK #highstreets #bill #partnerships #councils

🏡 Why the #communityowned business model works for rural settlements. As the political parties set out their vision for addressing the nation's housing crisis, in the build up to the #GeneralElection, Plunkett UK will be making the case for embedding #combiz within new developments. We believe that this proactive approach could be transformative, not only in terms of addressing the need for more homes but also in creating communities where everyone is welcome. The pioneering approach is also something we have proudly be piloting with our partners Thakeham for a number of years, resulting the new community shop at the heart of Thakeham's Woodgate development near Pease Pottage - see 👉 [https://lnkd.in/edTpzktZ]. Working with Thakeham, we are calling for an open and constructive conversation and have prepared a white paper which sets out why we are calling for: 1️⃣ Community-owned businesses and social enterprises to be recognised in local plans, as a way of promoting inclusivity and integration alongside new development. 2️⃣ An ‘infrastructure led’ approach to development to be enshrined in the core principles of planning for new communities. 3️⃣ A more strategic approach to developing fluidity in the housing market, through the provision of a range of homes, appropriate for people at different stages of life. Read the full paper via this link 👉 [https://lnkd.in/e34THhnM]

##affordablehousing #affordability#affordablehomes #landplanning #urban design #urban planning #transportation planning #community development #redevelopment

Clann is four today! We would like to thank our residents and colleagues for their dedication and support over the past four years. Clann's vision is a society where everyone has a great place to live. Our team now supports over 1,300 residents in over 1,200 homes across Ireland. As the age-friendly housing and service provider of Clúid Housing, we continue to focus on delivering homes in mixed-tenure neighbourhoods to achieve a greater social, economic, and community mix, supporting and nurturing people to create, not only homes but thriving and more sustainable communities. There are many benefits to living in a home managed by Clann - lower energy and heating costs, less maintenance and a better, safer layout. A feature in today's Irish Times discusses the many reasons to downsize or change house in later life. You can read more about the benefits and considerations of changing homes in "Rightsizing: The ins and outs of moving to a new and more manageable home in older age" at https://lnkd.in/e2rW49fK #Clann #leadingthewayhome #agefriendly #housingforall #community #mixedtenure

Thanks to all of those that attended the roundtable, some fascinating discussion and insightful points, with some real direction of what could and should be done. #placemaking #masterplanning #urbandesign #townplanning

Housing Land Supply and Green Belt: Moving the debate past short-termism and the electoral cycle Joshua Oliver’s very sensible piece in today’s Financial Times presents a strong case for a sober debate about the role that green belt land could (and arguably should) have in meeting England’s housing needs. There remains some confusion as between greenfield and green belt - but with helpful comments from very sensible heads (thanks Zack Simons!) this article moves the narrative forward. This doesn’t have to be a NIMBYs vs YIMBYs polemic - we have to face facts - it will be necessary to release some green belt land if this country’s housing needs are to be met. Significant brownfield development is part of the answer of course (but we’ve had a “brownfield first” policy base for decades) as well as as many sustainable urban extensions as can be accommodated sensibly - but properly planned communities at scale can deliver so much more in terms of placemaking, legacy and sustainability (if done properly of course). Let’s elevate the debate beyond the electoral cycle - think about the next 25 years - and keep the discussion going. #planningreform #greenbelt #generalelection2024 #housingdelivery

We want to welcome Adam Hawksbee as interim Chair for the new high-powered Towns Unit to ensure the voices of UK towns are heard loud and clear across government and that vital regeneration comes to life. Adam, Deputy Director of the think tank Onward, will help deliver the government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns, backed by £1.1 billion overall, to regenerate 55 towns around the country so people can feel proud of the place they call home. Each town will receive a 10-year endowment-style fund with £20 million of funding and support to deliver long-term projects focused on the issues that matter most to local people, including regenerating high streets, protecting local heritage and cracking down on anti-social behaviour. Towns Unit Chairman Adam Hawksbee said:    “It’s an honour to be heading up this vital work, which will empower communities to transform their towns. The Long-Term Plan for Towns puts local people at the heart of change, letting them choose their own priorities. Whether that’s making high streets safer and cleaner, improving transport links or celebrating local heritage, we will help towns to rebuild a sense of pride.”    Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young said:    “Towns have been taken for granted for too long and local leaders need long-term funding that goes directly to community priorities, instead of being caught up in public sector red tape. I am excited to be working with Adam to deliver our Long Term Plan for Towns to put power in the hands of communities so that they can decide on local priorities and what’s best their future.”  Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/ePBMbJ-c

The annual Quality of Life survey from Cambridgeshire County Council in partnership with Cambridge Ahead, South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority is open for responses until Friday 19 July. We are co-funding the survey because, as our CEO Dan Thorp explains: "We want quality of life to be at the heart of decision making for this region's long-term future, and our research with RAND Europe over many years has said that the places around the world that do this best have regular and robust local data on QoL issues. So this is a policy-making building block we need in place." Do take time to have your say and encourage others to do so too - https://ow.ly/xcMf50RQAwK #QualityOfLife #Cambridgeshire #GreenerFairerMoreCaringCambridgeshire

Does anyone know what’s going on with Spelthorne’s Local Plan? It seems to have been on ‘pause’ for quite some time. On 29th February 2024 the Council voted (in my personal opinion a shocking decision) to delete all green belt sites* from their examination stage local plan. This was despite the Council providing evidence to their decision makers that in doing so: 1) They would not meet their housing need 2) That 438 affordable homes would be lost 3) That 98% of their dwellings would now be apartments. 98%.  Who needs family homes or a garden? 4) That various community benefits would not be realised 5) That only 0.7% of Spelthorne’s green belt would be lost 6) And that for context Spelthorne delivered no affordable housing in the last reporting year This was also despite the Council re-assessing each green belt site and acknowledging that a substantial number of them performed weakly against green belt criteria. The vote I believe was binary, so either keep all the sites as green belt or release all the sites for development. No ability to consider each individually on its merits. So the vote occurred and the Council subsequently wrote to examining Inspector to inform him of their decision (which requires the Inspector's consent to implement).  And then silence.. *bar for keeping two small traveller sites Will Edmonds Spelthorne Borough Council #localplan #spelthorne #greenbelt #strategicland Welbeck Land Limited Lincoln Jopp MC MP Extract below:

How can we create solutions if we haven’t asked what the issues are? And how might we properly promote the positives if we don’t know how residents perceive a place? It was great on Friday to review responses from nearly 1,000 town centre users and a third of businesses collected by the Dovercourt High Street Partnership. At The People & Places Partnership Ltd. we find that such evedence-gathering and engagement is a fundamental step in revitalising town centres. We are always surprised when town centre initiatives miss this step. By keeping initial survey questions very broad, we find it’s a great way of gauging the relative importance of issues. It’s also informative to compare the perceptions of businesses and residents alongside other key measures. Today the Dovercourt Partnership will be using the findings to help determine project priorities as part of the pilot High Street Accelerator programme backed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. More than this though, we hope this evedence base will help the partners to frame other ongoing initiatives in the town and set longer-term priorities for the partnership. Showing how such understanding of issues helps determine projects, drives further engagement and demonstrates success, we find is key to creating a local sense of progress. This work in Dovercourt is part of my work as a High Streets Task Force expert and complements design input from David Hills and guidance from Alfie Temple Stroud as part of the Better Places Programme. We like to think of it as a glue of local understanding that binds different elements together. #towncentres #citycentres #economicdevelopment #communityengagement #stakeholders #dovercourt #harwich #tendring #essex