Agenda item

      Report by Chief Executive Officer – Terence Herbert

The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Military-Civilian Integration and Communicationspresented the report which provided an update on the strategy that Wiltshire Council and its partners has developed to reshape Trowbridge’s town centre offer and to submit this to the Government’s Future High Street Fund.

The Leader explained that Trowbridge has progressed through the Expression of Interest stage for funding under the Government’s Future High Street Fund (FHSF) and officers are preparing to submit a business case by the end of July 2020. The report provided an overview of the strategy and the FHSF projects that have been developed to support the town centre of Trowbridge.

Members commented on the need for town centres to include leisure facilities and cultural activities in addition to shopping for town centres to survive and prosper; conditions of the Future High Street Fund bid requiring completion of projects by 2023/24 and the management of associated risks; reworking of Castle Place and St Stephen’s Place; and the development of a Transport Strategy for the town centre; a comprehensive leisure facility close to the town centre with the inclusion of a swimming pool; maintenance programme at Clarendon swimming pool; and the condition of St Stephen’s Car Park.

In response to a number of the comments, the Leader explained that the proposals would need to include natural connections to the town centre from existing and future leisure facilities; the project completion dates had not currently factored in COVID-19 situation and may well be extended; parking and the needs of other transport modes would be taken into account in the development of the proposals to increase the accessibility to the Town Centre; it was understood that a swimming pool was included in the leisure element of the proposals, although precise details would not be known until the agreement of all parties involved had been achieved; and the maintenance period of 5 years was confirmed for Clarendon swimming pool.      

Resolved:

1.    Notes the contents of this report

2.    Delegates authority to agree to the submission of the Trowbridge Future High Street Fund business case application and delegate to the Chief Executive Officer in consultation with the Director for Legal, Electoral and Registration Services and the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Military-Civilian Integration and Communications to approve and submit the Trowbridge Future High Street Fund business case, application and to finalise the submission including the funding request to MHCLG

3.    Delegates authority to develop individual workstreams within the business case application to the Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the Director for Legal, Electoral and Registration Services and the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Military-Civilian Integration and Communications.

Reason for Decision

Trowbridge Town Centre has been negatively affected by a number of factors

over a long period of time, resulting in a significant decline of the vitality,

attractiveness and perception of the town centre. This has manifested in the

following market failures:

·       a significant lack of activity and diversity of offer in the town centre core;

·       many of the town’s most unique assets are in need of urgent repair, resulting in these being vacant or significantly underused for c10 years;

·       a lack of development within the town centre core, particularly of key sites adjacent to the town’s unique natural assets like the River Biss;

·       a  disjointed experience with poor linkages between the retail core and new developments, the railway station, major employment sites and carparks.

This has contributed to the evident decline of the town centre and continues to

severely threaten its long-term viability.

Trowbridge has the chance through this funding to significantly reposition itself. Key outcomes following securing funding could include:

·       Improving connections and legibility into the town centre

·       Transforming the gateway experience

·       Bringing more leisure, residential and culture activity into the town centre

·       Making better use of vacant units to enable a diverse and sustainable mix of uses within Trowbridge Town Centre

·       Accelerating future development by facilitating the strategic development of key sites within the town centre core

A successful allocation of FHSF will enable Wiltshire council to work with

partners to initiate that process and attract in other public and private sector

funding to rejuvenate the town.