Malvern Civic Society Newsletter

MCS News

High Street UK in Great Malvern
Earlier this year we learned that Malvern would be the pilot study for High Street UK a town regeneration project based on the successful American programme called Mainstreet US. This follows successful applications for funding. Malvern Hills District Council gained £25,000 from Advantage West Midlands. This was matched by another £10,000 from the District Council and £5,000 from Worcestershire County Council.

In August after as much consultation as possible in the time available the Society presented a briefing paper entitled Notes for Discussion for 'High St. UK.' A number of submissions including ours was received by the leaders of the collaborative project, the Civic Trust and the New Economics Foundation (NEF). The intention is to do the initial feasibility study in Great Malvern to see whether High Street UK can be developed in other towns across the nation. The objective is to produce and deliver a new town centre programme that will bring a halt to the seemingly inexorable decline of many of our town centres. There has been a tendency for town centre management to focus on the national multiples but High Street UK will correct this imbalance by placing more emphasis on the role of local businesses. It has the following features:

It will be focused on town centres, the administration, the businesses, the residents and the needs of the local economy.

There is a national need because:

Smaller independent shops are closing at the rate of 2,000 a year, but a successful town centre relies on a blend of well- known stores and local independent firms.
A strong local independent sector enables more money to be retained within the local economy.
The power of major food stores to dominate is well known, but the ways and means for developing and supporting other facilities is not so well understood and rarely applied
High Street UK will demonstrate that local businesses can be more successful through collaboration and better organisation
Town centres are still largely regarded as theatres of consumption or destinations to visit briefly. High Street UK will aim to develop strong bonds between local businesses and residents through volunteering and membership.

High Street UK components are:

A Panel - members from the local business community, resident organisations, statutory agencies, voluntary sector, youth and faith groups. The Panel is split into four programme areas:

Local management group
Design
Marketing
Economic development

All representatives are volunteers and the only criterion for membership is a passion for Great Malvern. The groups will be supported by a local co-ordinator and by staff from the Civic Trust and the New Economics Foundation. The approach will be participatory.

The Civic Trust and the NEF visited Great Malvern in September to talk to residents, business owners and stakeholders. Discussions centered on local issues, needs and desires. They are now considering the various ideas put forward and are due to report back in November.

Civic Society Submission: Our proposals may be summarized as follows:
Appearance: They included the importance of improving the appearance of the town centre. We pointed out that the beautiful Priory Church is largely hidden and that this relates to the possible redevelopment of the Post Office site. The potential for Edith Walk to provide more walkways from there to Church Street was also listed.
Facilities: Many of our members wanted to encourage the weekly market and would like to see Church Street closed to traffic for one day a week as an experiment. We wanted to see high quality washing and lavatory facilities in the town centre. An improvement in facilities for young people based on the Priory Park area was listed.
Traffic & car parking: There is limited circulatory movement of traffic round the town and we urged that this should be investigated. Many of us would like to see increased frequency and journey times of trains and buses with convenient drop-off points for the latter, a park & ride scheme to reduce the number of private cars in the town centre and better facilities for coach operators.

Conclusion: We concluded by saying that Malvern's Victorian heritage must not be lost. We have a wonderful mix of architecture, open spaces, the hills and a vibrant theatre that pulls in visitors. We want to see a town centre that is attractive and memorable in an environment that allows people to wander round freely and in safety.

The above is a summary, the full submission can be requested at meetings or from our Chairman of Planning Sub-Committee, Mr. Roger Sutton.