First Industrial Realty Trust’s Post

As a High Streets Task Force #Expert it has been an absolute privilege and honour to be part of this fantastic network of High Streets Task Force #Experts Cathy Parker MBE, SFIPM As the High Streets Task Force concludes its work, it leaves a legacy of strengthened local partnerships, increased resilience, and innovative approaches to high street management. The insights, tools, and capacity-building efforts it has provided will have long-term impacts on how local authorities and communities approach regeneration. Stakeholders who benefited from the Task Force's expertise will likely continue to build on its foundations, ensuring that high streets remain central to economic recovery and community life in the years to come. Its flexible response to emerging challenges and commitment to place-based transformation have cemented its value in the public and private sectors alike. Key takeaways in terms of Achievements and Value of the High Streets Task Force: ☑️Support for Local Authorities: the Task Force delivered expert advice to over 150 local authorities, helping them develop strategies to manage and enhance their high streets. It facilitated workshops, diagnostic tools, and one-to-one consultations with specialists to build local capacity in addressing complex urban challenges. ☑️Data and Insights: the High Streets Task Force provided invaluable data on footfall and commercial performance, allowing towns to monitor high street trends and make informed decisions. Access to real-time data enabled local stakeholders to better understand consumer behaviours, forecast economic conditions, and adapt accordingly. ☑️Training and Capacity Building: it launched a series of training sessions, webinars, and guidance materials aimed at town centre managers, planners, and business leaders. This training helped these groups to innovate, adopt new technologies, and embrace regeneration projects, particularly in the context of post-pandemic recovery. ☑️Placemaking and Community Engagement: the Task Force championed place-making efforts, emphasising the importance of creating attractive, diverse, and community-centered high streets. By focusing on local identity and public participation, the HSTF encouraged towns to be more vibrant, inclusive and sustainable. ☑️Collaborative Partnerships: through collaborations with business improvement districts (BIDs), government bodies, and community organisations, the Task Force fostered a more cohesive approach to high street regeneration. It played a central role in promoting partnership working, where businesses, residents, and local government could co-create solutions. ☑️Innovation and Flexibility: in response to COVID-19, the HSTF adapted quickly, launching initiatives to support high streets in navigating pandemic-related restrictions. This included guidance on outdoor trading, digital transformation, and temporary uses of vacant properties, which were critical for the survival of many businesses during lockdowns.

The North East Combined Authority mayor vows to extend Tyne & Wear Metro to Washington. The North East of England is pushing forward on its plans to extend the Tyne & Wear Metro to Washington. North East Mayor Kim McGuinness also renewed her call for the Government to re-open the rest of the Leamside Line and has pledged £8.6 million to develop the business case. Described as “the most important piece of transport infrastructure for the economic future of the region”, the Leamside Line’s re-opening has unified support from local communities, cross-party politicians and the business community, but remains unfunded. Mayor McGuinness said “I pledged in my manifesto to bring the Metro to Washington and that’s exactly what we will do. It’s clear to see that re-opening the Leamside Line will allow us to reconnect our isolated communities to the Metro and local rail network which will be transformative for local people. “For too long we’ve been held back by a lack of national funding to kick start our infrastructure. That won’t happen under my watch. We want to build the greenest and best-connected transport network in the UK so it’s time to get to work.” Reopening of the Leamside Line is being planned in three phases: - the ‘Washington Metro Loop’ - using the northern section of the Leamside Line to bring the Metro from Gateshead to Washington, connecting with South Hylton - ‘Leamside South’ - the southern section of the line connecting Washington and Sunderland to the East Coast Main Line (ECML) rail link - and Ferryhill Station in County Durham - which would connect on to Teesside. Subject to Cabinet approval, £8m will be used to develop an Outline Business Case for the Washington Metro Loop – a major project which will provide full information on proposed stops and stations, economic impact data and estimated costings. The business case is being prepared by Nexus, the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, and will be completed by spring 2026. Alongside this, a further £0.6m will be used to commission a new Strategic Outline Case for the next phase - Leamside South - marking another new milestone and further progress towards the line’s re-opening... Find out more 👉 https://buff.ly/4cKfiC5 #transport #infrastructure #transportinfrastructure #connectedtransport #intelligenttransport

💡 "For a city, compliance is everything" Wise words from Councillor Cathy Curry at our Smart City Ottawa event as she touched on the origin behind the Mayors Innovation Table and why pushing for more innovation within our businesses and public infrastructure is key towards not only keeping our communities safe, but also making our city known as the safest place to live, work, and play. As she states, change is a scary thing that can be met with a lot of hesitation and rejection, but when we put our minds together and actually discuss the ways we can innovate towards safer operations, we can transform towards a better and brighter future. 💪 We are beyond thankful to have had the opportunity to hear from Councillor Curry at our event, and we can't wait to continue addressing more areas to innovate for better business and public safety at our future Smart City Ottawa events. Stay tuned for our next event around emerging regulations and fines around false fire alarms, and how you can keep your property ready for the future. 🌟 #smartcityottawa #smartcity #ottawa #innovation #compliancemanagement #operations #poolsafety #publicsafety

Plans revealed for new town near East Midlands Airport

🚆 Imagine a future where quality public transport, like that in London, becomes a reality for communities across the UK. To ensure all communities stay connected via public transport, certain measures need to be taken in rural parts of the country. We dive deeper into public transport in Rural Britain here: https://lnkd.in/e9rqyMbP #PublicTransport #MobilityAsAService #TechForGood

NI is by far the UK region that is most primed for growth and development potential for entrepreneurs and corporate investors aligned to take advantage of the “open border” with EU and U.K.

In an emergency, every second counts. Planner Kelly McGuinness, AICP supported the research and development of this new report from State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Sam Schwartz, which found that traffic congestion was a major factor in worsening NYC 911 response times. https://lnkd.in/eupHqQwm #emergency #EmergencyManagement #UrbanPlanning #transportation #FirstResponders

Interesting to attend the Transport for London #SpatialPlanning Summit in Stratford today. The key point (that we all know…hopefully) is that we need to reduce traffic and thereby cut the number of people killed or seriously injured on London’s streets. Road danger reduction is integral to facilitating under represented groups - including women and children - to #walk and #cycle more. During the summit, borough officers in the room were asked - what is the greatest barrier to realising the ambition of the strategic cycle vision for #London? The response was muted. But the fact is, many decision makers are nervous about traffic reduction. Or anything that sounds like traffic reduction. As a result, officer’s hands are often tied. The message that needs to be heard loud and clear by every London borough descion maker, particularly in outer London: The data is clear - you can’t deliver equitable change and reduce road violence if you aren’t prepared to tackle the number of private vehicles on the road. I don’t know how many councillors and cabinet members were present at #TfL today (not many), but it’s vital we get this data in front of them. It would be interesting to know if TfL are planning a similar summit specifically aimed at decision makers.

Part 2 in my series about Transportation trends in Ottawa, based on a new release of Ottawa's Origin-Destination study. This entry is about where we are moving in our city. https://lnkd.in/eDqPxjhc