Memorandum by the Association of Town
Centre Management (UWP 43)
1. INTRODUCTION
This memoranda summarises the views of the Association
of Town Centre Management (ATCM) as to what provisions should
be included in the content of the proposed Urban White Paper.
In presenting our suggestions we have concentrated on the subject
areas covered in the report of the Urban Task Force (UTF) that
we believe to be the most essential and fundamental elements of
any successful urban renaissance and which therefore merit the
highest priority. These recommendations deal with one key issue
and several subsidiary measures calculated to enhance its effectiveness,
if it is included in the Urban White Paper.
2. WHAT IS
TOWN CENTRE
MANAGEMENT
The town centre is an economic competitive location
and the private and public sector have an equal interest in its
prosperity—the private sector for reasons of investment
and the public sector through the need for an environment that
all sectors of the community value. The community is also a very
important partner, providing the vitality that makes so many towns
individual and special. Town Centre Management works to create
natural partnerships and providing networks that allow all parties
to meet their objectives in a way that benefits the whole. In
order that the benefits of the holistic use of the town centre
can be maximised, the key requirement is management which meets
the widest variety of needs. Town Centre Management, through the
partnership approach shares aspirations, expertise and resources
to create a joint up an holistic plan to meet local needs and
strengthen regional interest. Additionally, as TCM evolves and
matures we support the use of the integrated partnership model
as one which can be used as a model for a neighbourhood or local
area management initiative.
3. WHAT IS
THE ATCM?
The ATCM is widely regarded as the UKs prime
unifying force for the wide range of business and professional
disciplines, law and practice that affect or are affected by,
the management, improvement and promotion of the town centre environment
as an essential component of cohesive, prosperous, secure and
socially inclusive communities. The ATCM has over 500 members,
300 of which represent the 300 managed towns in the UK. Our other
members typically represent the private sector who have interests
or investment in town centres and place importance on the management
of that investment in the context of the town centre as a whole.
The ATCM approaches its work in a way that assists all of our
members in their TCM objectives:
— Representation—promoting members'
interests in relevant matters of public policy at a national and
European level; secretariat support for the All Party Parliamentary
Group on Town Centre Management issues with over 200 MPs and Peers.
— Communication—conferences,
seminars, workshops and a regular newsletter, as well as regional
forums and seminars.
— Information—a library of articles,
references and copies of business and action plans, helpful advice
service.
— Training—formal and informal
programmes which concentrate on advancing techniques for effective
town centre management—organised both nationally and by
regional groups—and supported by the professional skills
of significant academic institutions.
— Research—research projects
are regularly commissioned by ATCM to advance thinking and produce
practical guidance in key areas of town centre management; we
also respond to the research needs of other relevant organisations.
— Contact—encouraging the flow
of ideas between TCM groups in the UK, Europe and America through
our growing network of members and their contacts.
— Support Services—expert assistance
at a local level to initiate and grow town centre management schemes.
— Strategic Alliance—providing
support and expertise to and with other organisations through
co-operation and sharing of good practice and information. These
organisations such as the British Property Federation, the British
Retail Consortium, the British Council of Shopping Centres, the
Civic Trust, the British Urban Regeneration Association, the British
Council of Offices, the Pedestrians Association, the Royal Institution
of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Highways and Transportation
value the multi-faceted approach to the whole town centre to add
value and inform their often more narrow approach.
4. A HOLISTIC
APPROACH TO
THE URBAN
WHITE PAPER
The Urban White Paper provides a significant
opportunity to combine the policy objectives of several government
departments under the leadership of the DETR to deliver to local
communities a "joined up" approach to neighbourhood
regeneration. The report of the Urban Task Force clearly advocated
this approach without necessarily determining how it may be achieved
and yet, to deliver regeneration clearly requires economic, social
and environmental integration across a number of significant policy
areas. Town Centre Management has consistently striven to achieve
this integration and this is seen as one of its strengths. However,
the resources required at local, regional and national level to
achieve this integration could be better allocated with a single
unifying body which will oversee the regeneration efforts of these
combined departments. In particular we recommend that through
the Urban White Paper, the Home Office (Crime, licensing and public
order), the Department of Trade and Industry (Economic Development
and Competitiveness), the Department for Education and Employment
(Education and Training) and the Department of Health (location
and management of health services), the Department of Culture,
Media and Sport (Tourism, Arts and Culture) and Treasury (resources
and funding) combine with the DETR to provide a co-ordinating
body to achieve this integration. It is the experience of the
ATCM, through trying to engage with the Regional Development Agencies
that our work would benefit from a nationally co-ordinating agency
in England.
5. OUR KEY
RECOMMENDATION, ITS
RATIONALE AND
ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS
As the drivers of economic activity, town centres
should be the preferred location for much future development in
retail and leisure, housing, education, health and other areas
of employment and all policies should be integrated at local level
to support this basic concept. Any proposed development outside
town centres should be subject to careful scrutiny for its ability
to enhance both the urban renaissance and social inclusion. From
our perspective, we believe that the key provision of the proposed
Urban White Paper should be to give statutory form to Town and
City Improvement Zones (TIZs), and thereby to facilitate effective,
jointly funded management arrangements between local authorities
and businesses. It has been accepted widely that TIZs are unlikely
to succeed on a voluntary basis and that only through enabling
legislation will urban areas make meaningful progress by, for
example, generating local funding for specific initiatives. As
stated in the Environment Transport and Regional Affairs committee
report into Local Government Finance, it was recommended that
the Business Improvement District model be maintained on the Government's
agenda and urged the government to introduce legislation which
would allow authorities and businesses to develop Business Improvement
Districts. The Governments response was that the TIZ was a more
appropriate model and this was being investigated and developed
by the ATCM. Through two pronged approach the ATCM has made clear
recommendations to government that the public sector should generate
a TIZ programme. It is clear to the ATCM that it is important
for the public sector to create the conditions and environment
in which the private sector can be engaged. Through the Sustainable
Funding project being carried out by the ATCM and supported by
the DETR continues to research the future role of the private
sector and how they might be best encouraged to invest in the
public realm within town centres. ATCM regards TIZ legislation
as a priority action that would form the basis for an holistic
approach to regeneration, enabling and encouraging the indispensable
element of active participation by the private sector. TIZs therefore
offer a sustainable model for creating and promoting socially
inclusive and prosperous urban centres through enterprise.
Although the UTF report recommends that TIZ
legislation be enacted by 2002, we have, in "Step Change—Town
Centre Management Strategies, Regional Development Agencies and
Europe," researched by the Leeds Metropolitan University,
suggested that a national TIZ programme experiment in association
with the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in the period 2000-2002
could usefully develop partnership initiatives to pilot the TIZ
model prior to any such enactment.
"Step Change" sets out a framework
in which private sector, RDA and European funding can be focused,
and its principles, we believe, should be included in the proposed
Urban White Paper. Our case is that although many existing town
centre partnerships have been relatively successful in focusing
attention on issues like marketing, accessibility, security and
retail strategies, their progress has often been impeded by the
inability to secure substantial funds and the difficulty of engaging
the fullest co-operation of all key players. These partnerships
will benefit from receiving funding from all those who benefit
from their work and not just those who will voluntarily contribute.
Legislation should seek to motivate and enable them to produce
medium- and long-term business plans for their town centres by
harnessing both public and private sector resources and creating
links to public policy programmes. This is not a privatising agenda,
rather a drive for improved town centre management in the UK,
with the promise of far higher quality services. The suggested
TIZ legislation would open the door to this improvement in quality
by realising the full potential of company structure for town
centre management.
A TIZ programme modelled on the existing framework
of Employment, Health or Enterprise Zones would employ tried and
tested methods of competitive bidding in the targeting of resources.
Our key recommendation is that any actions in
the Urban White Paper enhance the existing partnerships through
new involvement from agencies such as the RDA and:
— Focus on the commercial, property
estate management and urban regeneration aspects of the town centre,
as well as service delivery.
— Allow private sector contributions
to be offset against corporation tax and seek new ways of bringing
private finance into town centre management and development schemes.
— Develop a five-year business plan
and a ten-year town centre strategy to fit a regional perspective
and attract the support of stakeholders.
— Seek to strengthen the input into
town centre management by matching and joining up a range of relevant
programme initiatives, such as European, Lottery, environment
and transport funding resources.
— Bring forward a range of new initiatives
aimed at securing key town centres in a European and international
competition strategy.
— Work to engage commercial property
investors and financial interests in town centre futures and facilitate
a more significant dialogue between the public and private sectors.
— Engage small and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs) in the town centre management strategy, as well as the
larger firms, and ensure that community-based initiatives play
a positive role in town centre management.
— Relate town centre job creation and
job linkage systems to adjacent poor neighbourhoods.
Existing town centre partnerships demonstrate
the logic for TIZ legislation, both through their successes and
by highlighting areas that need further development. The TIZ model
for town and neighbourhood improvement zones provide an opportunity
to achieve some key mechanisms which will promote the urban renaissance
and should be a priority;
— Company structures for town centre
management.
— The elaboration of visions, master
plans and business plans, which are underdeveloped, even in localities
most strongly committed to town centre management.
— Partnership working and stakeholder
coalitions between corporate members and further development of
SME involvement.
— Improved development and asset management
of both public and private sector property portfolios.
— New regional frameworks for town
centre management.
— Integrated management models for
town centres. Better integration is needed between town centre
management and:
— Economic development and urban
regeneration.
— Planning and design.
— Estate and asset management.
— Public and private transport.
— Tourism.
— Retail Development.
— Commercial and public leisure.
— Marketing and promotion.
— Cleansing services.
— Crime planning.
The modernisation programme for local government
and the "Best Value" approach to service delivery allow
a more systematic review of town centre partnerships and services
during the next five years. At the same time, new regional frameworks
provide opportunities for a wider examination of town centre management.
The RDAs, in particular, are in a position to consider, with existing
partnerships, how they wish to fund and develop town centre management.
6. MEASURES
CALCULATED TO
ENHANCE OUR
KEY RECOMMENDATION
We believe that TIZ legislation would constitute
a relatively straightforward, yet comprehensive approach to a
successful urban renaissance. However, as with many such mechanisms,
we do not suggest that it is appropriate for all areas or is a
panacea for all urban problems. We therefore support the inclusion
in the Urban White Paper of several other recommendations contained
in the UTF report, both for their intrinsic value and for their
ability to enhance, and be enhanced by, any TIZ legislation. One
such recommendation, the creation of Urban Priority Areas (UPAs),
would enable local authorities and their partners in regeneration,
including local people, to seek special powers and incentives
for neighbourhood renewal in the context of a streamlined planning
process. ATCM regards this suggestion as an eminently desirable
supplement to any TIZ legislation, particularly if the Urban White
Paper makes provision for additional revenue from Council Tax
and business rates generated through renewal activity in the UPAs
to be retained for local management and maintenance. We suggest
that UPAs should be so constituted as to encourage regeneration
and economic activity in areas where there are difficulties engaging
the private sector, in order to create the conditions for the
introduction of TIZs. Similarly, we support the suggestion for
"arms length" Urban Regeneration Companies to co-ordinate
or deliver area regeneration, provided they are so constituted
as to enable specific, time-limited projects in places or situations
where a small, clearly identifiable group of partners can combine
to achieve explicit goals.
7. SPECIFIC URBAN
TASK FORCE
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations of the UTF report
should also, in our view, take priority for inclusion in the proposed
Urban White Paper to support the TIZ, UPA and Urban Regeneration
Company models.
— Relaxation of national guidance on
"planning gain" agreements to allow developers to contribute
to revenue spending for the improvement of the quality and management
of the urban environment and to enable planning gain from one
place to assist the regeneration of other local sites.
— Changes to the planning system to
provide better response to housing demand, aimed specifically
at the timely correction of under- or over-supply in the market.
— Introducing a statutory duty for
public bodies and utilities with significant urban landholdings
to release redundant land and real estate for regeneration, and
for compliance to be monitored by the new Regional Planning Bodies.
— Creating revolving funds for land
assembly, to offset public investment in the initial costs of
site purchase by a share of the gains achieved from regeneration
and subsequent disposal, provided that public bodies do not compete
with private buyers or purchase land lacking the potential for
early development.
— Streamlining and consolidating Compulsory
Purchase Order (CPO) legislation before 2003 and alleviating short-term
difficulties by amending government guidance on the powers of
local authorities.
— Producing dedicated Planning Policy
Guidance to support the urban renaissance, supported by enforcement
measures in Regional Planning Guidance, local development plans
and planning decisions and by measures to enable the fullest involvement
of local communities in the planning process.
— Implementing a means of reflecting
the full environmental costs of new development through the use
of economic instruments.
— Taxing vacant land such as to deter
its unnecessary retention, without penalising the genuine developer.
— Introducing new measures to encourage
the restoration and use of historic buildings left empty by their
owners.
— Harmonising VAT at zero rate, or
at a 5 per cent rate with a significant part of the proceeds reinvested
in urban regeneration.
8. CONCLUSION
ATCM supports a statutory TIZ programme and
measures calculated to enhance its success because voluntary inaction
will inevitably fail through non-contributing businesses free-riding
on the backs of those companies who are willing to participate.
We therefore need to ensure that universal benefits are linked
to universal contributions. It is essential to the prosperity
to regions as a whole, and thus to the quality of life of their
people, that we prioritise the management of our urban centres
and the TIZ concept, we believe, provides the most realistic and
easily adopted vehicle to drive this renaissance. We will be honoured
to expand our recommendations, either in the form of oral evidence,
or by the submission of such additional documents that the Committee
may require.
14 January 2000
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