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    £1m Portas Contest To Breathe Life Into Towns

    By (c) Sky News 2012 | Sky News – Sat, Feb 4, 2012 10:22 GMT

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    Towns are being offered a slice from a £1m pot to come up with ideas for reviving their high streets.

    The Government-run competition will see 12 areas being given financial backing and advice from a Whitehall team and retail guru Mary Portas.

    The idea was born out of Ms Portas' review into high street decline, commissioned by Prime Minister David Cameron.

    Announcing the competition, Local Government Minister Grant Shapps told Sky News: "We need Town Teams to come together and put their ideas forward.

    "They'll get help, not just that money but actually Mary Portas' attention and help and assistance from the Government.

    "And we'll actually help them to try out their ideas and spread those across the rest of the country."

    Winning bids will become "Portas Pilots" and, if successful, the scheme will be expanded across the country.

    Sky News visited the town of Hatfield in Hertfordshire, which is in Mr Shapps' constituency.

    Its (Euronext: ALITS.NX - news) high street is almost deserted and there are almost as many empty shops as open ones.

    A supermarket at one end of the street brings in the shoppers but the local residents have little pride in the rest of the area.

    Mother and daughter Emma Terry and Rose Mills have lived in Hatfield almost all their lives.

    "Years ago it was really nice," says Ms Mills. 

    "There were fountains, an indoor market and shops here.

    "There was a reason to come here then, but not now."

    Ms Terry believes high rent rates are behind the town's decline.

    Mr Shapps said the contest would give towns hit by stiff competition from Internet shopping and out-of-town shopping centres a chance to regenerate their areas.

    He added: "I want to see how these town teams plan to try new things, experiment and ensure that their high streets and parades become destinations for local people want to be."

     

    12 comments

    • Nonjudgemental
      Nonjudgemental  •  Brighton, England  •  3 months ago
      Could it be that the idea of High Streets is just not what people want/need anymore? Most people want to park as near as they can to where they are shopping, they don't want to pay for parking, when they shop they want everything as conveniently placed as it could be, they want the best value for their money and pay the lowest prices for it. Some love to order online and get their goods delivered to their homes to avoid going onto the High Street at all. There is no great mystery to why our High Streets are dying, they do not meet the expectations of those who have the money to spend. Small businesses and shops can blame whoever they want and talk about their overheads until the cows come home but in the end people shop for themselves not the owners of shops. It didn't take Mary Portas to write a report for David Cameron to find out why the High Street is dying we've all witnessed why it is and contribute to its continuing demise.
    • The Lord Is My Shepherd
      The Lord Is My Shepherd  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      I was in Hatfield only yesterday and within twenty footsteps of the town centre is an Asda hypermarket. What cant you buy in these stores.
    • jeffrey
      jeffrey  •  Galway, Ireland  •  3 months ago
      That's an easy one. Just put it back as it was, rip out all parking metres, pay and display, black out all yellow lines, sack all traffic wardens, make life normal again for the motorist, then watch the high street come back to 'buzzing' life. The shop keepers won't mind the high rent and rates if they get the general driving public back. OK it may get clogged up with vehicles but that will regulate itself. The councils will have to free-up other parking for whole day 9-5 town/city workers. It's not rocket science, how many pedestrians go on trading estates?
    • JOHN
      JOHN  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Free town centre car parking would be a big help.
      • boatman
        boatman 3 months ago
        Why so many double yellow lines in towns which are dead
      • Nonjudgemental
        Nonjudgemental 3 months ago
        Not sure either of these, if changed would make a difference. High Streets have faced convenience shopping online and in retail parks and lost the battle. Those that survive will never see a return to the prosperity they once knew because those that used them have found a different way to meet their needs. As an example in my home town many cafes, tearooms and coffee shops struggle for daily business, however, those out of town, with parking outside the door, continue to be successful. This I believe is because people see them as a destination of choice rather than somewhere they no longer need to go, like their High Streets,
    • boatman
      boatman  •  3 months ago
      Big supermarkets being permitted to sell anything they want has killed the town centres .Look at a market town with no large superstore within 10 miles and you will find it surviving but what is the bet that the people the council and the supermarkets all want this to change and after the people and the council will be the losers
      • Nonjudgemental
        Nonjudgemental 3 months ago
        This is shopping in the 21st Century. People shop at these places because they choose to do so. You cannot blame those that run them for the demise of the High Street, it is the people who choose where to spend their money that do that. If you and others shopped at the smaller shops then they would survive. It is because people seek to spend their money elsewhere that they are failing. All about choice and nothing more.
    • boatman
      boatman  •  3 months ago
      Mary Portas getting paid how much for this ?
      Charge supermarkets on area covered including carparks .
    • Films4You
      Films4You  •  Middlesbrough, England  •  3 months ago
      "offered a slice from a £1m pot" A SLICE equals £50.00 for a Shopping Center equals a "POT" of paint per shop.

      This will really help, NOT!!!
    • Howard
      Howard  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Of course it is the high rents. They always only go upward. Landlords who agree a lower rental for a tenant give other, nearby tenants, the evidence to get their own rents reduced to that 'lower' level. That is the law. It also works the other way around.
      It's why I had to close my shop.
      Forever onward and upward with rents works fine when it's boom time but now the business isn't there to support those high rentals. Hence closed shops.
      I was in independent retailer that closed a shop for the reasons as I have just just described. That unit is still empty and it will remain that way because the required rental is 14k more than it was when I closed my business down four and a half years ago. Unbelievable!!!!!
      If Ms Portas can get around the way rentals are legally devised then she has a chance.
      I wouldn't hold your breath though................
    • boatman
      boatman  •  3 months ago
      Reduce stop business rates for small premises and charge large stores higher figure to balance loss?
    • T
      T  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Simple how to revive towns. Take ALL control away from councils ENTIRELY. Including the rights to levy council tax and parking fees. Businesses are struggling enough and get NOTHING for the fees they pay. I used to own a shop but now I wouldnt have one GIVEN. Been to town this morning, minimum parking fee £2.00. WONT be going again.
    • MrCoolGuy
      MrCoolGuy  •  Leeds, England  •  3 months ago
      What about the Association of Town Centre Management...?? They have been working with retailers, the Government and local Councils for 16 years........ Trust Portas to jump on the band wagon.........ATCM....SPEAK UP !!!!!!!
    • Joe
      Joe  •  3 months ago
      The country and the people can no longer afford to subsidise banks and big business moving billions of untaxed money to offshore accounts,tax loopholes for the rich and obscene wages.We need to imprison some accountants and directors to stop tax evasion.
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