Agenda item

The Director of Regeneration will be in attendance to provide an overview of the Town Centre Board/Place Leaders Partnership.

 

Recommendation: that the Panel determines what further information will be required for this scrutiny investigation

The Director of Regeneration was in attendance and provided a presentation on the Town Centre Board and Place Leaders Partnership.

 

It was advised that the Place Leaders Partnership had been formed in collaboration with partner organisations all of whom had a stake in Middlesbrough and worked together to inform the Council’s Place Strategy. The Town Centre Strategy and Investment Prospectus sat within the Place Strategy. In recent times, the space to discuss plans collectively had been lost so the Partnership had been formed to begin to develop a shared vision for the town.

 

It had been identified that there was a need to shift perception when planning and given the difficulty of engaging with every demographic simultaneously and the high percentage of young people in Middlesbrough, it was decided that a focus would be put on younger people and having a vision to make Middlesbrough the UK’s most creative place for young people to live, learn and realise their future. It was clarified that in this instance, the term ‘young people’ was nuanced, as it could refer to children, young adults, those early in their careers and more. This perspective would allow the Council an opportunity to make a difference in the longer term by:

•        Providing young people with as many reasons to visit our town as possible

•        Providing positive multicultural and sharable experiences

•        A bold, future-focused offer built on creativity, innovation and inclusivity

•        Anchored in Middlesbrough’s digital, engineering and cultural strengths

•        Linked to the town’s 2030 Bicentenary ambitions and plans.

 

The Director went on to explain the overarching aims of the Council’s Place Strategy which were:

•        To Make Middlesbrough a destination of opportunity for young people

•        To connect culture, business and community for shared prosperity

•        To build experiences that are accessible, affordable and transformative

•        To foster pride, belonging and empowerment through opportunity.

 

The desired impacts of the Strategy were also discussed as follows:

•        Inspire youth engagement and ambition

•        Boost Middlesbrough’s reputation and visitor economy

•        Strengthen community pride and cohesion

•        Retain graduates and attract new business investment

•        Animate the town centre and heritage spaces.

 

The Council’s strategic narrative centered around the following goals that would allow the town centre to thrive in the future:

•        Attracting young people, with a tailored offer supporting them across all areas

•        Investing in housing, education, access to skills and culture experiences

•        Building pathways into local employment and entrepreneurship

•        Making the town centre a hub for creativity, innovation and collaboration

•        Retaining local talent and attract new visitors and investors.

 

The Council would promote the new vision and objectives for the town by:

•        Launching new place campaigns: strengthening ‘Let’s Go To Town’ & ‘Made in Middlesbrough’

•        Reimagining events like Orange Pip Market, connecting our culture and events programme with our leisure food and drink businesses

•        Amplifying stories and events via We Are Middlesbrough as the digital hub

•        Recruiting ambassadors and influencers to champion Middlesbrough’s story.

 

 

The Director concluded the presentation by noting the Council’s next steps in its endeavour to be the UK’s most creative place for young people to live, learn and realise their future:

•        Finalise and approve strategy

•        Identify and confirm game-changing projects

•        Investment Prospectus, action and engagement plans

•        Begin public consultation and implementation

•        Build momentum towards Middlesbrough’s 2030 Bicentenary celebration (on-going).

 

A Member asked the Director of Regeneration what barriers the Council had faced previously that had prevented other strategies from being as impactful as hoped.

 

It was advised that other strategies had been too generic and lacked direction and focus. The resources were not available to address every issue so it would be more effective to focus on a few areas.

 

Members queried what the Director envisioned for the town’s future.

 

The Director referenced an idea that was often discussed, that retail would return to Middlesbrough and become the main focus again; it was advised that this would not happen. The strategy would become more clear once research was completed with the residents of Middlesbrough and the Council were clear on what a town centre needed to be successful in the future and what local people want and need. The digital sector was emerging organically and Middlesbrough had the colleges and university in place to support this. It was important that the Council reached all residents for views, particularly those who were not currently engaged and in order to do this the Council was prepared to pass some control to others such as the arts and creative sector to carry out this research and engage with a wider variety of people.

Members also queried what funding was available for this work.

 

The Director advised that the Council was prepared to spend some money upfront for consultants to carry out research and on ensuring that the research was meaningful and engaging. However, it was also planned to utilise existing networks to gather views.

 

A Member noted that young people generally had less money than before due to economic factors so cost would need to be a major consideration. It was also queried whether anything was being done to attract older generations to the town.

 

The Director advised that in terms of the Place Strategy, the Council was looking into a long-term shift and changing the fabric of the town however it remained a priority to implement things to encourage people to the town in the here and now. By putting a focus on the young, this could also indirectly attract older generations for example, those who are parents or grandparents.