Darwen could be transformed in Mary Portas project (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Darwen could be transformed in Mary Portas project
8:00am Tuesday 7th February 2012 in News
PROJECT Mary Portas
DARWEN could become one of 12 towns transformed under recommendations from retail expert Mary Portas.
Last year, the retail adviser, who made her name in the BBC show Mary Queen Of Shops, was asked by the Prime Minister to lead an independent review into the future of Britain’s high street.
She came up with The Portas Review, a 28-point list of recommendations to turn round the fortunes of Britain’s town centres.
And now, Local Government Minister Grant Shapps has launched the Portas Pilots competition, based on the report.
Under the scheme, 12 towns or cities can bid for a share of £1million to become Portas Pilot towns.
Town MP Jake Berry said Darwen fitted the bill.
He said: “Darwen is perfect for this. The Portas Pilot scheme is looking for towns with markets at their heart.
“It is looking for different types of towns across the country as well. So it would be nice to have a seaside town, a countryside town, and a mill town like Darwen.
“I think this is hugely exciting for Darwen and I will work with the borough council and town council to try to win the competition.”
Mr Berry said planning was already under way to put a bid together for Darwen.
He said: “I have been working on this for the past two weeks with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.
“We intend to put a bid together, including a film on why Darwen should be a Portas Pilot town, to be done by media students at Darwen Academy.
“There is no guarantee of success, but lots of things from the report can be implemented even if we are unsuccessful.
“Really, I’d like to make Darwen a Portas Pilot before the competition closes.”
Blackburn with Darwen Councillor Dave Harling, executive member for Regeneration, said: “If there’s funding available to help make further improvements to either of our towns, it would always be useful.
“We’re passionate about making our town centres better and want both Blackburn and Darwen to have the best possible offers. We’re looking at the bid criteria now to see what benefits it could bring.”
Comments(16)
Izanears
says...
10:27am Tue 7 Feb 12
What she does might pass an hour or so as a tele programme, but that is all. A friend of mine checked out 6 hotels that had supposedly been 'saved' by Alex Pollizzi. They had all closed down!!!!!!!
hasslem hasslem
says...
12:19pm Tue 7 Feb 12
Izanears wrote:Agreed - Portas' career amounts to not much more than being a window dresser for Harvey Nicks.
Heaven help Darwen if Mary Portas is involved.
What she does might pass an hour or so as a tele programme, but that is all. A friend of mine checked out 6 hotels that had supposedly been 'saved' by Alex Pollizzi. They had all closed down!!!!!!!
.
How she has acquired this status as some sort of retail troubleshooting guru is frankly beyond me.
.
all she is is good telly and that is the only reason that she was appointed by cameron to be the high street tsar. its just plain daft - as was the appointment (and peerage) of lord sugar by gordon brown as some sort of enterprise tsar....just grandstanding by desperate politicos.
.
portas' recommendations on high streets were shallow, futile, facile and inconsequential.....
.more free parking, independent shops and town centre markets. heaven's to betsy sherlock, who'd have guessed?
hasslem hasslem
says...
3:57pm Tue 7 Feb 12
english rose 1
says...
4:19pm Tue 7 Feb 12
darwen_celeb
says...
5:26pm Tue 7 Feb 12
happycyclist
says...
5:53pm Tue 7 Feb 12
Ian the Beancounter
says...
5:56pm Tue 7 Feb 12
sean_brfc
says...
6:55pm Tue 7 Feb 12
hasslem hasslem
says...
7:35pm Tue 7 Feb 12
darwen_celeb wrote:belive me celeb......she is hopeless, really hopeless
This would be good, Mary Portas knows what she is doing (unlike most councillors/town planners, her professional expertise would be welcomed, I bet she'd do a quality job. Darwenners should support this!
Your ferret stinks
says...
7:38pm Tue 7 Feb 12
darwen_celeb
says...
8:55pm Tue 7 Feb 12
unbelievable
says...
10:55pm Tue 7 Feb 12
My apologies .
I note the Highfield Club has a "For Sale" sign . GOOD .
What's the story ?
louderfasterlonger
says...
11:15pm Tue 7 Feb 12
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) described (retail premises) vacancy rates as "worryingly high" in many parts of the country and called on the government to reduce business rates, which are set to rise by 5.6% in April.
"The scale of retail failures since Christmas and number of shops standing empty show the effects of high costs and weak demand on retail businesses and the people and places that rely on them," said Stephen Robertson, the BRC's director general.
My Opinion -
Mary Portas and Jake Berry can throw as many millions as they wish at town centre projects dressing them like hanging baskets.
The fact of the matter is, that people have less to spend so the retailer needs a reduction in overheads NOT a 5.6% increase in rates.
Add to this increased running costs of utilities and fuel.
I'm afraid Jake, if you want to stop Darwen going under, you need to do more than just putting your finger in the dyke to save the town - to coin a Dutch fable of course.
Your ferret stinks
says...
2:09pm Wed 8 Feb 12
darwen_celeb wrote:We probably won't be able to get near the cameras cos you lot will be hogging the limelight telling everyone what your going to do with the money and how fantastic your team was in securing the cash.
If this bid is successful it can only be a positive thing, the cash will bring some improvements, even if small it is better than nowt. The only negative will be the embarrassment if it's televised, and you fickle lot are featured. Your negativity is laughable. Positive change won't come to town on it's own. Why is ANY effort for improvement slammed and winged about, with boring, boring sarcastic winging. Get behind it, just don't get on telly FFS - this will cause irreparable damage that with last for decades, please stay away from the cameras!
johndarwen
says...
7:59pm Fri 10 Feb 12
You can not put this in the hands of children.
Who's idea was it to put this in DACA's hands?
Darwen is doomed if they do what the council can not.
The blind showing the blind
QuizOnMyFace says...
9:21am Tue 7 Feb 12