Town Centre Working Group

Notes from discussions with others

Barry and Sue Curtis (20 March 2017)

Barry and Sue got involved with the Alsager Partnership about the time of the High Street UK 2020 project. It did not really go anywhere, largely through lack of funding. The Portas £10K was spent largely on a PA system (still generally used for Alsager events). MMU's contribution was to "help" with marketing, and then say that the strapline, It's All About Alsager, was good and that was it! However, during the project discussions a number of ideas and issues were identified, as set out below.

Possible contacts

Alsager resident who was a shopping centre manager (BC will try to find name and contact details)Husband of woman who runs Handmade Naturals was interested and also had relevant experience (shopping centre?)

Ideas for Alsager Town Centre

open up area in front of town council offices and adjacent shops to provide a vista down to Asda (eg remove hedges and walls)

use area for the market to make it more visible use seating areas better to encourage social activity/chatting eg L shaped configuration,

picnic tables, benches near play areas, arm chairs public art, mosaic, use school children to come up with designs, more permanent, maybe on

sides of buildings etc [Alsager Partnership doing a digital art project?] concrete table tennis table more tree and green planting (including in planters) in town centre all year round Alsager in Bloom require all stores to have the same style canopies to provide linkage and improve

appearance bollards and other street furniture should all be in one style better use of Facebook and internet to let people know what is going on in Alsager - diary of

events, links to other sites, directory of local businesses and links to their sites (Leisure Centre, U3A, schools, Library, Civic Centre, community groups, businesses, etc, etc)

reduce speed of traffic through town centre - traffic calming

Issues

lack of footfall (which is why Costa would not come 2 years ago)

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Asda highly restrictive on activities in and outside store including town square (national policy, not local)

Asda is the only reason people come to shop in Alsager, very little else some pavements too narrow so dangerous (eg opposite Sainsbury's and around Fortuna

corner) shopping is moving from goods to services/social activity large and growing ageing population - encourage sociability, sitting places, chatting,

dementia-friendly town (signs in red - last colour to be lost) need someone to manage Facebook and internet sites Alsager is difficult to get a business established - barriers always seem to appear

Cath Rowley (21 March 2017)

Cath has been manager of Alsager Library for the last couple of years, and also works at Congleton Library. The library is not particularly under threat, but they are putting on many activities to encourage people of all ages to come into the library. She believes there is a great community spirit in Alsager, more than in Congleton. Activities are promoted through the Chronicle, Facebook, the screen in the library, in a pro-active way. The library does well in comparison with other libraries.

2016 Survey of Cheshire East libraries

There was recently a survey conducted of Cheshire East libraries (2016). Barriers to increased library usage for library members and non-members were:

People going elsewhere for information (36%) or books (31%) The limited range of books (28%) The cost of car parking (21%) and availability of car parking (20%) A lack of facilities such as tea coffee (18%) and toilets (15%) Inconvenient opening hours (15%) Lack of awareness of what’s on (14%) Lack of time to visit (14%).

Alsager library activities

Many activities during the week, most are well attended Some targeted at specific age groups, particularly children Teenagers not easy to reach - though some volunteer to help Project on reluctant readers Some activities after school eg drama, lego club Most activities during the day, using meeting room (£15/hour including cost of caretaker -

Tony - if necessary in evening/weekend) Wednesday coffee morning 10-12 with various groups having tables/information - well

attended ACT, yoga and pilates in the evening Crafts and stories for children on Saturdays

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Linking up with Cheshire Rural Touring Arts to put on acts in the library Can apply for an events licence to sell alcohol for such events Ideally would like to link up with major Alsager events eg Italian Day, but usually closed

when events take place Maybe spill out more from the library to the area outside to become more visible

Suggestions for town centre improvements

Open up the mere Cheap clothes shops for teenagers Use local arts and crafts residents to make public sculpture and art Crewe Road by the public toilets and the park is dark and uninviting at night - will not walk

there Play barn Carousel on the car park on Saturdays Make more of Alsager being a Fair Trade Town (USP) Market in front of the council offices would be good

Andrea Taylor and Nolana Fielding (23 March 2017)

Andrea and Nolana manage Alsager Civic Centre.

Civic Centre

Mixture of events and activities Some put on by people or groups booking the CC, some organised by the CC and tickets sold Strategy to attract a wider demographic (not just old), especially 20-50 years Most events sell out and tickets selling more quickly As the profile of the CC is raised, people are encouraged to come to more regular events There are competing venues in the town so ticket prices need to be kept fairly low (cover

costs) - most profit made on the bar Most Saturday evenings a now booked for parties/weddings etc There is spin off for other businesses - people coming to events often go for a drink or a meal

before or afterwards Policy of keep it local so that when services are needed for parties etc (eg DJ, catering) local

businesses are recommended Free parking is a definite benefit Most regular dancing events get 80+ people Only Monday evening is free Use Facebook as principal marketing tool - cheap and effective, reaches most people (it's

massive) Olive and Stitch traders do not want to move outside - mostly weather issues

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Town centre issues

Could do with some quality shops to attract people to the town Suggestions: quirky shops, antiques, bridal boutique, ex-season designer brands or ex-

catalogue shops (good clothes, real bargains) Have a look at Cheadle, Leek, Ashbourne, Stone People from Staffordshire might come for Alsager's charity shops Centre of town needs to look better eg do not like stuff on pavement outside Headway,

Spend 'n' Save looks tatty - both in highly visible place near the traffic lights Front of Cartwright's is lovely - common canopies for all shops would make a real difference West end of village is prettier but you can never get on the car park behind The Lodge - used

by Senate staff and clients? How to attract teenagers? Most stuff is not cool and would not be a commercial proposition They do not have much money and tend to go to each other's houses - friendship groups Oatcakes and milkshakes (eg at Stone) is trendy at present (if too expensive) - possibly a

milkshake bar would be popular with all ages There is a place in the Potteries Shopping Centre (opposite Lush), non commercial, which

includes coffee, a salon and clothes - a place for teenagers to hang out on Saturday and Sunday, quite trendy, run by someone who used to be a youth worker

Steve Priddis (28 March 2017)

Steve has spent 30 years in shopping centre management, worldwide. More recently he has decided to travel less and set up his own company as a consultant. [He actually gave me 3 cards - retail asset management, one based in Cyprus.] He has lived in Alsager since 2000, and had had a couple of discussions with Barry Curtis around the time of the MMU project. He clearly knows what he is talking about and I was impressed with his ideas about how to go about making a town centre/Alsager better for its retailers. He is willing to help when and if he can. Suggests funding a town centre manager for two years - after which the retailers and others should be able to manage the same kind of activity themselves.

Role of a town centre manager

NOT using a command and control approach principal aim is business prosperity help others to do things better get to know the town, retailers and stakeholders stakeholders - major stores, landlords, local authority (rates) take a strategic approach to what the town could be like - and specify in terms of a business

wish list (planning business classes) seek to have a managed tenant mix get to know the commercial letting agents (link to landlords) - could be local estate agents or

commercial letting agents

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get retailers to improve the appearance/display etc by encouragement, get them to try something for a few months to see if takings improve

input ideas for retailers get retailers to work together, cooperatively, so that all win put some marketing behind joint enterprises eg sale time, arts and crafts festival identify the big stakeholders and get them onside creative use of empty spaces for pop-up shops support local entrepreneurs and start ups - eg have a business panel

Ideas specific to Alsager

Asda is a major stakeholder - get them more community spirited/community engagement (via head office if necessary)

SP thinks Alsager has deteriorated in the past few years - there were more services could make an arts and crafts quarter - branding, and part of a letting strategy could decide which kind of outlets would be best in which parts of town, and specify in

terms of business class uses (planning terms) new developments - encourage dog walkers, and also provide seating to encourage them to

sit and chat, greater commitment to the locality (eg MMU) also seating at sports hub areas to encourage more support for local teams - get people

involved traffic calming through middle of Alsager, also perhaps a mini roundabout outside Asda use empty units to encourage pop-up shops or outlets (eg police wanting to do a local

campaign, sports teams seeking support, arts and crafts creators) suggested that local chamber of commerce died because it was too much of a talking shop,

not doing enough note that take aways are only open 5-11, so the area tends to be dead during the day Costa might attract a demographic that would not otherwise come to Alsager town centre needs a mix of brands and independents - but the high % of independents in

Alsager is a strength market research - when do people shop? where? why?

Business tips

No more than one third of turnover should be for occupation costs (rent, rates, utilities and other services)

Build rapport with customers

Alex Hough (24 April 2017)

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Alex has been interested in Alsager town centre issues for a long time. He was involved in the MMU project discussions, takes an academic interest as well as practical (wants to do a PhD and has already done Masters I think in this area), and is also a businessman, owning Two Doors Studio site and was responsible for pulling together the local craftspeople to get them to organise to make TDS happen. He is eager to be involved in the NP, and said that the key message coming out of the MMU project was to create a NP. I have asked him to be on the Town Centre WG, and he is keen to do this.

Organisation of traders

used to be a Chamber of Commerce but it was run by someone who seemed to use it for their own interests and did not encourage discussion between traders - he shut it down and disbursed the funds (£5K?) which led to bad feeling and distrust

Alex would like to create a new network of business traders, largely as a space for discussion between members of mutual interest - and also to ensure they all know who the other members are, much more open than previous organisations

better governance - choose leader themselves from membership, talk to each other originally set up by Lindsay Lewis with money from the council

Management of the town centre

Place management is a recognised discipline, and would involve (or largely be about) town centre management

Done at MMU, part of Marketing Lindsay Lewis was a marketing professional who worked for CEC in economic regeneration,

and her remit was to drive initiatives within the town (not just to manage events which is the current project manager's job - Maria)

there needs to be some way of driving forward ways of realising the vision for Alsager, either through a professional town centre manager or through voluntary partnership activity

includes: facilitating an organisation of traders (independent, not one of the traders), creating and maintaining a central directory of Alsager meeting venues (possibly with online booking facility) - currently no single source list

Civic commons

Alex is very keen on the notion of a civic commons, that there are activities and places which are properly part of a civic community and should be managed as such

the Library and Civic Centre and council offices are part of this, Alsager Partnership, Town Council

so is active town centre management needs to be more cooperation and sharing of information between all the parties how to attract people to meet in Alsager need healthy well governed organisations within the town and this saves a huge amount of

effort and makes things possible for individuals with ideas

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if there are no networks for discussion there is no forum for ideas generation, which only leaves the market - create spaces for conversations

Alsager Partnership forum meetings were too one-way, not enough discussion, just information dissemination, so not very satisfactory - need a forum for people to talk among themselves

Information distribution

Alsager Chronicle and Alsager in Focus will only take copy from businesses if they also advertise

FB What's On In Alsager - run by Matt Helliwell and Alex believes it is biased (and has been excluded for saying so) - Alex also believes this has the newspapers behind it (Sentinel?) paying for managing it, because FB is a threat to newspapers and their information distribution role

Alsager Partnership FB good, well governed need another way of distributing information about Alsager which is independent of vested

interests, part of a healthy organisation

MMU project

other towns which took part have also taken part in follow-up studies with MMU, including using Springboard to generate recent footfall data - it is possible Alsager could still be part of this if we think it is useful

people involved at the time tended to be quite conservative and not open to new ideas, too little breadth of vision, fear of ambition eg in Alsager Partnership

sense from the project researchers that Alsager was difficult to deal with

Vision for Alsager

Alsager could market and promote its identity as an arts and culture town - coordinate events better, public art, pleasant place to be, lots of activities, Sunday arts events in the park, busking in town centre

Good destination for meetings or meeting up (families, companies, etc) - good central location, pleasant place to be, meeting rooms, eating places, park and mere [Bob Snowden did some work on this for St Mary's] eg Senate attracts a lot of people - what impact does that have (apart from taking lots of parking spaces)? Be known for being child and elderly friendly - family outings

Sunday economy - mere, park, buy a paper, get an oatcake and eat in the park or by the mere, stuff happening in the park

Can more access to the mere be secured by working with the commercial parade of shops (Fryers etc) to open up behind them, open space, mere/water activities, cafe etc - or could that parade be bought? [also need to check by-laws eg cannot swim from railings, space cannot be used for commercial activities - get by-laws changed]

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Take advantage of increased focus on health and wellbeing, and ability of doctors to prescribe activities - put on appropriate activities to attract this market, already increasing number of activities such as keep fit, personal training, dance studio, etc

Define place by activities, culture and ethos, and coordinate the calendar Helen Paton works for CEC culture and heritage, and is herself an artist/craftsperson - lives in

Alsager Need a creative exercise to generate ideas

Arts and culture activities already

Alsager Arts and Music Alsager Music Festival Poets and Pints at the Lodge Events at the Civic Centre Events at the Library Live music at the Mere? Alsager Community Choir

Retail

Traders do not want Sainsbury's, and all made their views clear, but they were ignored because someone, somewhere wanted a petrol station (but do we really need a petrol station?) - according to Alex, what Sainsbury's really want is a distribution warehouse to manage that last mile of online shopping

No comparison shopping in Alsager (eg white goods) and unlikely to be encourage social entrepreneurship Bands could have reduced business rates by splitting up into separate units, each of which

would qualify for relief - was this just lack of awareness of the options? could possibly have been run as a community shop if sufficient public goods were identified

key outlets in future will include coffee shops, artisan bakers, craft beers West End has cheaper rents - can encourage arts and crafts, start up businesses, creative

and activity businesses Could there be potential in having shared use for takeaways? eg baker during the day Encourage offices for knowledge workers eg upper level

Alex's shop - Two Doors Studio

Had place spare and sought tenants put out feelers to arts and crafts people and had a number of people interested he put them together and told them to organise themselves, then put in a bid for the place other organisations were supportive - Alsager Partnership, Alsager music and arts Place is now an outlet for 50 creatives

High street design

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Alex knows an urban landscape designer who worked with the chamber of trade in Stockport to come up with an agreed design which was approved and funded by Stockport Council (they are going ahead, there was a budget for urban renewal)

Alex thinks this designer would be interested in doing a similar project for Alsager trading bodies useful in helping formulate and support the design

Funding opportunities and ideas

BIDs (business improvement districts) - bidding opportunity eg for town centre manager cycling-related innovations shop parade initiative community-funded projects eg community-run shops, public subscription/community

investment eg in parade of shops by the Mere council funded arts for health

Possible policies

Keep currently commercial buildings as commercial - no change of use to residential Chapel Mews higher level should be office space, not residential Open up the mere to public use eg along Crewe Road behind shops Encourage walking routes around Alsager taking in points of interest, mere, park,

conservation areas encourage a Sunday economy encourage an early evening/twilight economy eg after work drink/meal/meeting, pick up

from click and collect encourage health and wellbeing related activities - including those eligible for prescription

Investigate further

New Economic Foundation - 5 ways to wellbeing, aims to capture/measure the value of social activities, SROI (social return on investment)

Lisa Alcock, Community Support Officer? June Buckley - good engagement with business Alan Mantel (Alsager Tyre and Battery) owns some of the parade of shops by the mere

Alex will do the following

talk to businesses talk to urban landscape designer

Subsequent notes from Alex

Some notes - work in progress... long, unedited, for interest only!

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Richard Morrow, Alsager Computers* also the landlord of the old Alsager Computer premisses, now let to a make up artist.* Richard's wife (Jo) is interested in business organisations, I met her to talk about this previously. She has a masters degree in economics (from mainland China) and has been importing good direct from China (including some light engineering tools, like a laser cutter) * Richard's qualification is in a variety of Cybernetics, the type dealing with control systems in electronic systems. I was rather impressed when he told me he had worked at Jodrell Bank on the telescope. He runs RM Cybernetics, a separate business alongside Alsager Computers. He designs and makes custom electronics for a variety of industries and sells components and gadgets for education purposes.* Richard signed up to a proposal for a high street innovation fund I put together. This proposal was based arround establishing a maker space like a FabLab in Alsager. FabLabs are like high tech mens sheds, they are a place to share tools and are equipped with things like 3-D printers, laser cutters, computer controlled sewing machines, milling machines as well as tools and components for electronics. Richard and Jo had used the FabLab at Elesmere Port, I have been to the one in Manchester.

Wavemaker is a makerspace in Hanley. The idea is to nurture new skills which will lead to spin out companies.

http://www.rmcybernetics.com/http://fablabsuk.co.uk/http://wavemaker.org.uk/

--- Pharoe Frames

The owner of the framing shop is an ex-Rolls Royce engineer. His main business is also custom electronics. He specialises in guitar pedals

http://www.swiftpedals.co.uk/loopers.html 

I was very pleased to see two high street shops with back-room workshops, especially since both doing quite hi-tech work.

A possible scenario for Alsager high street is that this type of activity becomes more common and fuses with crafts. There are many innovation theories around the idea that promoting collaboration between traditional makers and crafters (like the ones selling though Two Doors Studio) . 

Alsager has expertise in engineering and arts and crafts, a convincing narrative explaining the reason why Alsager was a good place to come innovate would not be too difficult to construct: the bare bones are already there.

The so called "Fourth Industrial Revolution" will demand hi-tech skills, 3-d printing and other digital manufacturing. The high street could be a place for more businesses like Swift and Rm Cybernetics to thrive.

In the 1990s Chapel Mews was home to a music synthesiser developer and repair business. It shipped equipment around the world to many well known bands and artists. 

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/ 

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[see below for list]----

Chocolate Boutique

This is also manufacturing, all be it in less of a hi-tech industry. The company also offers courses: high street as place to learn, socialise.

Artisan food businesses like this are becoming more numerous. There is a growing demand for specialists, but also these types of business are ones which can survive on a high street.

Homemade Naturals

Homemade Naturals also manufacture at the back of their shop. Experience in e-commerce has helped the business grow. Founder Rossi worked as a web developer for the airline business before setting up the business showing how existing skills can combine with new interests to create new business opportunities.

CraftWorks

Newly opened in what was a model shop, selling model railway suppliers and toy cars. Set up by a plumber -- he fit the place out himself.

Bottle shops are part of a nationwide (if not worldwide trend) driven by the craft ale boom coming from the USA and changes in legislation in the UK. Another beer shop (Beer Docker, from Crewe )is due to open in the former Coop bank.

Bands: Cosa Coffee? Butchers: Chatwins?

The rumour is that Bands is to become a Costa Coffee. If this is the case it will be a mark of confidence for the town centre. Cosa are known to have models based on recording footfall and population demographics. Alsager might be soon getting to Peak Coffee, but at the 2016 Revive and Thrive conference I attended, retail experts agreed that the market had 25% growth still left in it. 

There's a rumour that Chatwins will take on what was the butchers next door. I expect that they will be making space for cafe tables. Chatwins has re-branded in Congleton, sandwhiches to take away, coffee shop. The move is away from bread cakes and pies.

With Chatwins expanding, a Cosa in Bands, the larger Cartwrights it would appear that the 2016 25% growth prediction might be coming to Alsager.

The Real Food shop (health food shop)

Now firmly established, has changed policy from a vegan only outlet to an anything goes. The ethos here has has been influenced by the Wesson A Price Foundation and the likes of Sandor Katz. They have run food fermenting workshop in the past and stock some interesting artisan produced goods (a miso from Wales, French raw butter, kimchi, kraut).

The shop is a really community hub. It has the most active notice board, I wondered if their next move might have been a opening a cafe. I could see Bands, if it were spilt into separate units,  being a place where they could co-exist with a small scale bakery, sit next to the craft beer shop.

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The Real Food shop attracts people to the area and shares a market with Two Doors Studio. Walking between the two places, the two areas of town though Milton Park is a wonderful experience for visitors. I showed someone from Marketing Cheshire around Alsager using this route. 

Explicitly linking up the southern quarter with the west-end via the park would enhance the shopping experience and the brand of the village.  

https://www.westonaprice.org/http://www.therealfoodcompany.org.uk/----

Walking though Milton Park to the West End

http://www.swiftpedals.co.uk/loopers.html

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What skills will change most?

Creativity will become one of the top three skills workers will need. With the avalanche of new products, new technologies and new ways of working, workers are going to have to become more creative in order to benefit from these changes.

Robots may help us get to where we want to be faster, but they can’t be as creative as humans (yet).

Whereas negotiation and flexibility are high on the list of skills for 2015, in 2020 they will begin to drop from the top 10 as machines, using masses of data, begin to make our decisions for us.

A survey done by the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Software and Society shows people expect artificial intelligence machines to be part of a company’s board of directors by 2026.

Similarly, active listening, considered a core skill today, will disappear completely from the top 10. Emotional intelligence, which doesn’t feature in the top 10 today, will become one of the top skills needed by all.

Disruption in industry

The nature of the change will depend very much on the industry itself. Global media and entertainment, for example, has already seen a great deal of change in the past five years.

The financial services and investment sector, however, has yet to be radically transformed. Those working in sales and manufacturing will need new skills, such as technological literacy.

Some advances are ahead of others. Mobile internet and cloud technology are already impacting the way we work. Artificial intelligence, 3D printing and advanced materials are still in their early stages of use, but the pace of change will be fast.

Change won’t wait for us: business leaders, educators and governments all need to be proactive in up-skilling and retraining people so everyone can benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Carrie Pletscher (5 May 2017)

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Carrie is a LD town councillor and a member of the local arts community, keen to be involved in the NP development. Our discussions ranged over a number of town-centre improvement issues, focusing on arts and design.

Alison Thomas

started Alsager carnival, as an arts festival has worked for councils as an arts officer lives in Alsager (Moorhouse Avenue) suggested arts mapping (showing location of all arts outlets in Alsager) aware of software (from Nottingham University?) that helps identify the economic impact of

an arts event (eg Biddulph Arts Week - £78K) - she may be able to get hold of the software so that we could use it to evidence economic impact of our events eg Alsager Music Festival (based on surveys of those attending I think)

Carrie has recently spoken to Alison, and Alison has been speaking to Alex Hough, about these issues - really all need to get together

Carrie will set up a meeting between the four of us (when she returns from holiday) and I will prepare a 2 page document for that meeting pulling together some key ideas for us to discuss - Alsager's identity, vision, how to make it come about

Central point for information - Alsager website (like a tourist website maybe)

needs to be managed arts outlets directory of businesses what's on in Alsager - calendar

Vision

Alsager as a place of makers and creatives and innovators Alsager Artisans include arts, food, hi tech lots of arts and culture

Arts studio

could we find a place to set up as an arts studio - where? central if possible common central workshop with facilities such as screen printing, kilns, laser cutting library of things for hire eg potters wheel, tools small units to rent retail outlets cafe

Public spaces

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spaces need to be suitable for events and happenings link Asda square to grass area outside council offices make grass area more friendly, not just decorative path and seating on grass different levels so people can sit and overlook what is going on - steps better planting design, not Victorian bedding, more natural placemaking - encourage people to congregate (including teenagers) Carrie is aware of the work of a professor of planting design who has done some work in

Sheffield parks Carrie agreed to do some research, come up with ideas and develop the beginnings of a

design brief we also looked around the shops Alec Ross, County Vets, Chatwins/butcher, and thought it

should be possible to stop access to their rears from the front - should be able to put in rear access from the car park, keeping frontage pedestrian only

need legible landscapes so people can easily navigate from the layout (not just using maps etc)

also encourage walking routes, possibly using boards at key points - need to design appropriate crossing points taking account of narrow pavements, accessibility, etc

Town centre survey

who is visiting why and what walking routes lots of people at different points in town centre undertaking the survey also different days, and different times of day

Funding

need infrastructure funding to improve the public realm - pavements, street furniture, signage, etc

Council tax increase (Alsager Town Council precept) crowd funding could sound people out in a residents' survey

John Poulson (9 May 2017)

John is Chairman of Alsager Partnership, and has been involved in AP for several years, including when the MMU project was in progress. His ideas and mine are very similar, and he and the Partnership will be supportive of our efforts to improve the town centre. I reminded him he had agreed to be on the Town Centre WG, though noted that we saw no purpose for meetings at this stage.

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JP has previously been involved with Alsager businesses eg through the Chamber of Commerce, where he tried to encourage and cajole traders to work together and participate in initiatives, but it was hard work getting engagement. He agrees that we need a town centre manager, but I think JP tried to carry out quite a few of the activities which a town centre manager would do. There were about 70 members of the C of C, 40 attending meetings which were put on with speakers and/or themes. He would like to see the Cof C revived.

JP had put together an agreement or contract for discussion with the Coop about the use of the Town Square, but then Asda took over and nothing happened. He is hoping to revive this in discussions with Asda. The local manager is Steve (I think he was also the Coop manager). JP says Steve is a good guy, but his hands are tied by Asda national rules about charities etc. However, it may be that something formal over the use of the square would be acceptable to Asda. He would like to see a series of town square events.

Also other ideas for activities in the town:

buskers street games eg big chess, jenga, connect 4 treasure hunt (JP did start discussions with a firm about this) electronic public display eg what's on

JP agreed with need for vision for the town, think big and bold, have a plan. Getting a 3D visualisation of what it could look like, so you can virtually walk through the town, would be great.

We talked about the role of AP and basically its aim is to promote and support Alsager and its community, which it carries out through a range of activities - events, initiatives, projects, promotion, Face Book, etc. It is talking to ATC and CEC about putting in place 3 year funding instead of the current 1 year funding, and this should give greater flexibility.

A key initiative at the moment is the Dementia Friendly Town, and the associated art collaboration project with Alsager School using Alsager Sway software. This has potential for other projects eg Alsager history.

The AP Forum is still in existence - reps from key organisations across Alsager. Next meeting is Thursday 11 May 7-9 in the Civic Centre. Aim to have every 3 months. This meeting is focusing on the dementia-friendly town. Happy for us to go (though this meeting coincides with NP meeting).

June Buckley (11 May 2017)

June was involved, through the Alsager Partnership, with the High Street 2020 project run by the MMU researchers (Cathy Parker and Simon Quinn), and has a number of good ideas about the town centre. She has some concerns at the way AP is going, with the Facebook page too controlled - it was more open when June did it. Her sense is that most stores are doing well in Alsager - personal services, Asda, cafes.

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High Street 2020

The MMU project looked at Alsager income levels:

25% low50% medium25% high

Higher income level people do not use Alsager, so mostly low and some medium income use the town centre. Need to attract the higher earners into town with more high end shops.

Alsager is an anomoly, too small for comparison shopping and too big just to be for convenience shopping.

Charity shops

have in the past had low rents on the understanding that they would vacate premises if full-paying business became available

now charities are doing well and having normal contracts with landlords, so cannot be moved (charities still get tax relief)

this means charities have quite a lot of prime sites in the town centre which might be better used by independent businesses

Landlords

Many of the town centre landlords are local, reasonably community-minded and will respond:

Sherlock (Bank Corner)Alan MantleChris Schemilt

Asda additional units were too expensive which is why they remained empty so long.

Ideas

smarten up the high street all shops on south side to have the same verandahs (provide some cohesion, and also cover

from inclement weather) - see Audlem? Altringham council asked shop owners to tide up and threatened court if they did not -

succeeded try to persuade the owners of the ex-barbers (next to Post Office) to let out the space

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out of town Sainsbury's might encourage people to drive through Alsager and actually see what it is like, and stop on the way back (note that Leek became stronger after similar Sainsbury's opened)

all shops need a FB page should use social media (FB) to secure engagement - ask questions BBQ pits in the park M&S food eg where Spend 'n' Save is shop opening hours need to be predictable and reliable ensure any shops which close during the week all do so on the same day eg Monday make all the shop fronts on the south side like Bank Corner create a dog friendly environment eg hoops outside shops, some cafes allow dogs, etc could it benefit shops in West End if they were open when the takeaways are open? 5-7.30 shared use for take aways B'Hoys gardens on the mere - build out a semi-circle into the mere with a glass window for

safety, seats and tables, much nicer than current railings etc

Facebook

Suggested we look at Dan Thompson on Facebook - activist and artist (Margate-based?)Look at The Mere People [nothing comes up]

Following our discussion, June has posted some questions to What's Going On In Alsager.

1 Name 10 good things about Alsager (11/5/2017)

Lots of positive comments, including from recent incomers

2 Hi everyone. We loved your comments yesterday. So now can we have some suggestions about your wish list to improve the look and visitor experience of the Alsager High Street. We are thinking that all sorts of funding could be applied for. So be imaginative but please keep the negativity to a minimum (12/5/2017)

Peter and Margaret Thomson (16 May 2017)

Peter is secretary of the Alsager Riperians Association (people who live on Alsager Mere) and I wanted to talk to him about possibilities of giving greater access and enjoyment of the Mere to Alsager residents and the general public. It was a generally amicable meeting, but as expected there are lots of reasons Peter gives for not allowing the public access.

Legal position

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The Mere is a private piece of water as registered with the Land Registry Houses individually own 20 feet of the Mere beyond their gardens The residents collectively own the rest of the Mere There had been a Trust but it is lost in the mists of time and after the Council took legal

advice it was decided that it should become the property of the frontages (ie the Mere residents)

The residents manage the Mere insofar as if anything needs to be done (clearing weed etc) they call a meeting and decide how best to deal with it, and then pay for it

Although the Council has two viewing points the Council argued that the Mere is not a public amenity because they have no access to it so they would not contribute to costs

It is not clear whether the Council also owns 20 feet of the Mere beyond the viewing point - Peter will try to seek clarification and let me know. However, he suspects they were only granted viewing access and not access to the water, in which case the 20 feet is owned by the residents collectively.

Years ago there was an accident in the Mere from the public viewing point and the Council was criticised by the coroner for not putting up more effective barriers. The Council will therefore be very risk averse in this area, not least fearing enormous insurance costs.

PT thinks it was the original trustees document which prevented any commercial activity on the Mere, but not sure, it could have been a by law.

Residents' view

Residents on the Mere are primarily concerned about their security and privacy For this reason they do not want boaters or swimmers in the Mere People can fish in the Mere from residents' homes with the permission of the residents It might be possible to establishing a licensing system for the public to fish from public areas

provided it was properly monitored and policed - licence would need to cover cost of managing the fish stock etc

If it was found that the Council did have access rights from their two areas, they would also be responsible for clearing the area of access

Northolme Gardens (B'Hoys)

Even with no access and no use of adjacent properties, it would be possible to greatly improve Northolme Gardens - currently a "gloombox"

pleasant seating, lighter, cut down trees, terrace, good landscaping, cafe or lock-up kiosk it would need to have a substantial barrier to prevent direct access to the water PT does not think it would be possible to build out from the area resident on RHS of gardens would be opposed to anything encouraging more public access Some years ago the Council threw out plans to build a paddling pool off the end of the

gardens by the Mere Years ago Dorothy Barnett had an upstairs cafe overlooking the Mere which was successful

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Shirley Jones (12 June 2017)

Shirley is a long-time town councillor and has a particular interest in the town centre. She was instrumental in getting the Neighbourhood Plan back on the Town Council agenda after it had been initially rejected, and arguing for taking it forward. She is very much for new thinking, and for taking control of what we do in Alsager, wanting a more pro-active approach from the council. Her work with the Civic Centre is part of this.

Shirley's number one priority is to get a town centre manager. She thinks this could be achieved by taking another look at the Town Council staffing structure, reducing days for some others in order to release sufficient funds for a Town Centre Manager for about 4 days a week. The Town Council has learned that they need to professionalise their staff. This does not need to wait for the Neighbourhood Plan. The TC manager would be embedded within Alsager Partnership to ensure they were working together and coordinating activities.

Shirley is also interested in the proposed business survey and would be pleased to look at a draft. She suggested the following questions be included:

main customer base (including local or from outside Alsager) how much online do they offer workshops why located in Alsager do you feel you receive any/sufficient support from the town council or Alsager partnership? what support would you like? do you have a dementia friend? are you interested?

She suggested that we might want to follow up the survey with face-to-face meetings with some businesses (eg if they raise interesting ideas or comments, or if they seem quite committed).

Very willing to help at events, and is particularly interested in the town centre WG.

Calum Smail - Zumm (11 July 2017)

Asked Calum about how Alsager could be improved from his point of view (as young entrepreneur).

cafe at their end of town they like being close to town, for example, can take clients out to lunch would like more music in the town (and not the sort at Bank Corner!)

He will contact me with any further ideas. He likes the idea of an arts centre.

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Shirley Jones (18 July 2017)

I wanted to sound Shirley out about our ideas concerning (a) an Alsager Arts Centre and (b) use of the Council Offices.

Shirley said that the Town Council was already considering the possibility of taking over the Council Offices building from Cheshire East. CE have failed to let the top floor for offices (main problem is lack of a lift) and it might be an opportune time to raise this issue. ATC would still need to keep offices there, either the top floor or the ground floor. SJ was keen on the idea of the ground floor becoming open access for arts purposes. Apparently Colin Burgess would like to see a museum in the town, and we had already identified that a museum is one thing currently lacking in Alsager. So the Council Offices could become joint use between the council and an arts partner. This would enable us to apply for arts grants. SJ suggested that the ANPSG write a proposal to ATC about this. Keep it simple. I will draft something for Chris and Rachel to consider.

We also discussed Radway Green North employment site, and Shirley was very pleased to hear our ideas for using and developing the site. She had always thought the ATC was a bit short sighted on this issue. Our notes from the Planning meeting with Adrian Fisher (13 July) will be on the ATC planning meeting agenda so she can see where our thoughts are currently leading.

SJ keen on the idea of a rota of busking, happy in principle with Alsager Partnership providing support, involving the Youth Council (when up and running).

Carol Davenport (30 August 2017)

Met with me and Carrie

Carol is a retired (about 10 Years) town planner, currently living in Nantwich but previously living and working in Greater Manchester. Her main experience was in countryside planning management and nature conservation, working originally with the Countryside Agency whose primary remit was sustainable rural planning. The CA became English Nature. Key issues are the links between the economy, environment and social aspects. She also did some work on market towns. She feels that the whole planning system used to be more professional and ethical than now, and is not impressed by Cheshire East planning. She had always worked in the public sector. She currently comes into Alsager weekly (to visit Real Foods primarily - Nick and Carol were the contact).

In general she reinforced the ideas which Carrie and I have about town centres:

need an identity character of the town centre is important need a cohesive design, to include street furniture (can possibly apply for civic design/town

improvement schemes)

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develop green and multiple routes (pedestrian and cycle) to the town centre - encourage walking and cycling (eg routes passing schools)

a town centre manager is a good idea

These are some of the issues she raised.

Evening/night economy

evening economy is a mixed blessing good to bring accommodation over shops into use - need more people about in the evening

and this moderates the evening economy single person accommodation is in short supply

Who uses town centre

many incomers (working and families) tend not to use town centre - too busy in the Household Survey try to identify households in the new developments - they may

have different views

Environment

SE Cheshire is poor in biodiversity we have the lowest woodland coverage in the country incorporate more natural planting and trees

Road scheme

explore designs not just with traffic engineers but also with other professionals eg environmentalists, landscape architects

the landscape and the built environment need to be designed together, not with environment as an afterthought

the bigger the curb, the faster the drivers will go aim is to slow traffic through town centre single lane traffic in each direction, possibly with central reservation or with periodic bollards

to keep traffic slow and in line if not careful it is possible to build in hazard phasing of development once overall vision is agreed work with other NP WGs - open spaces, business, housing, infrastructure

Parking issues

Alsager is a bit of transport hub with people parking here and then taking bus or train do we need more space for car parking, or should we try to limit demand? can we reduce parking demand by encouraging cycling, encouraging more cycle storage (eg

with other street furniture, not standalone bike racks)

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more legible routes to town centre from the car park - signage

Government policy - town centre schemes should address the following (there may be funding for good cases):

danger (collisions) health (pollution) attractiveness business viability

Some next steps

in early September the list of potential site allocations will be published there may be infill pockets identified if there are some near the town centre consider how they might best be used (not just

housing)

Other useful skills

NW chapter of Landscape Institute Reaseheath Royal Town Planning Institute, NW branch (Bev) landscape architect transportation expert - including pedestrian, cycle as well as car and public transport

Audlem - worth looking at

interesting community effort focused on sustainability transition town character was key leaflet on cycling

Carol left a lot of documents with us to peruse, and although specific policies will be out of date the principles will still apply.

Janey Moran and Dr Marieke Navin, Cheshire East Cultural Economy team (SHIFT) (26 September 2017)

Met with Sarah, Carrie, Alex

This was a follow-up meeting after we had been to the WEAVE meeting in Macclesfield. Janey and Marieke are most of the SHIFT team which is funded until December 2017 (though additional

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funding for a related project may be available for a bit longer). SHIFT's main objectives are to develop audiences, skills and specialisms in the digital and creative sector, support the retention of skills and people within Cheshire East, and generally raise the profile of the sector.

SHIFT has close links with Skills and Growth (an arms length delivery body with its own strategy).

We had a wide-ranging discussion, letting them know about our ideas for Alsager (within the framework of the NP) and finding out what they are able to do which could support us. Although there are funds we could apply for, at this stage we are really looking for ideas and guidance on how best to develop the kind of environment which would support the development of digital and creative businesses.

Skills development and capacity building

children need to be interested sooner they need to see creativity and digital skills as a pathway to a career it is important to grow creativity (not just skills) - this is the most difficult bit it is important to retain the skills in the area, which is easier if they are home grown rather

than imported difficult finding digital artists who can deliver workshops

Targeting young people

Following Wayne Hemmingway's advice to support young people, give them chances and enable things to happen.

target youth culture coffee and free wifi is attractive to young people finding activities for young teenagers to get involved in is always difficult - but maybe some

digital and creative activities could be provided

engaging with schools is more difficult since many are now arms length from council - BUT try to engage with local school

do they do coding, code clubs, using BBC microbits (£20 each) possibly incorporate as part of Duke of Edinburgh award (volunteering) eg run a coding club

for 12 weeks (after SHIFT training) Arts Award qualification is a standalone qualification which counts towards UCAS tariff (eg

gold award = 1 GCSE) develop a programme of visits to maker spaces (eg FabLabs, MadLab - Manchester Digital

Lab)

SHIFT workshop in Alsager (August 2017) was well subscribed (for age 7+ with parents if they wish) on coding with BBC microbits

SHIFT can facilitate workshops

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use Minecraft (lego on a computer) as a way of engaging children with their environment/town (Crewe project funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and aimed to engage young people with the history of their town using historical resources, particularly with HS2 coming)

tap into Staffordshire University

Creating and managing sustainable maker space

they work best if the initiative comes from the people wanting to use the space should we try to initiate an Alsager digital and creative network to explore potential? community interest company with those using services paying for them need a committed person running the facility, with good local support also need expertise in the equipment available STEAM - science, technology, engineering, arts, manufacturing Asa Calow, Director of MadLab, expert on setting up maker space

Examples

MadLab - Manchester (Marieke worked here) FabLab in Altrincham doing well Oldham WaveMaker, Stoke Macclesfield Print Mill

Macclesfield Print Mill

small shop, privately owned, on the high street no rent charged, building just seen as an asset discount on rates run by Diana Hamilton volunteer run all sorts of printing 3 artists in residence (upstairs) shop downstairs under banner of "Mac Community Arts Space"

Proposed actions

AH to email details of Alsager digital and creative businesses to Janey to add to CE database (currently CE strategy has no businesses in the sector for Alsager)

AH try to initiate a digital and creative network within Alsager SA and CP to contact Alsager School to look at common interests for developing and

supporting the next generation of digital and creative entrepreneursJohn Lee, Arca (27 September 2018)

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Arca is the design consultancy which designed a public realm scheme for Bollington. Cheshire East suggested that we should go down the same route since CE have no resources or inclination to develop schemes with communities.

Carrie and Sarah met John Lee in the middle of Alsager and walked the length of the high street, discussing our ideas. We had previously sent both the Town Centre position paper and the latest version of the NP policies for the town centre.

Our aim is to use a design consultancy to come up with a scheme for Alsager town centre which complies with our town centre aspirations and policies. We are hoping that Alsager Town Council will pay for this, but first we need to have a brief which we can use as a basis for seeking tenders.

John agreed to develop a brief which we can use and which would form the basis of a proposal to Alsager Town Council. The brief itself will incur a charge but we are hoping that it will come in under the £500 limit for requiring 3 tenders. The brief will set out what we are looking for and in particular will include:

Key features required How the whole scheme can be packaged into sub-projects within an overall master plan Sketches of what it might look like A range of prices which we might expect from a tender exercise

He agreed to get back to us within a couple of weeks.

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Discussions with individuals and group representatives

Ref Person spoken with Organisation represented (if any)

Date WG member discussing

Topic Principal points of discussion

1 Barry and Sue Curtis Alsager Partnership 20/3/2017 SA Town Centre project with MMU

Barry and Sue were involved in the MMU project with Alsager Partnership but it didn't really go anywhere. Nevertheless a number of ideas and issues related to the town centre emerged as recorded in the detailed notes of this discussion. Appearance is a big feature, together with making the town centre a place where it is easier to socialise and chat, L shaped seating etc.

2 Cath Rowley Alsager Library 21/3/2017 SA Role of library and ideas

Cath is the Alsager Library manager. The library is putting on lots of events for all age ranges, and generally they are well attended. Tend to offer refreshments so less incentive for people to go elsewhere eg for coffee. 2016 CE library survey identified barriers to library usage, which includes cost and availability of parking, and lack of coffee and toilet facilities. Some ideas for town centre improvements.

3 Andrea Taylor and Nolana Fielding

Alsager Civic Centre 23/3/2017 SA Civic Centre activities and ideas

Andrea and Nolana run the Civic Centre, take bookings and put on their own ticketed events. Very successful. Increasing footfall. Some spin off for other local businesses, either as services to events or drinks/meals before/after events. Free parking very important, as is Facebook for marketing. Also ideas about making town centre more attractive, and possible shops which could attract visitors.

4 Steve Priddis Independent consultant

28/3/2017 SA Town centre management

Steve has been a town centre manager for over 30 years (worldwide) and is currently a

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consultant. He has many good ideas about how to improve and manage town centres, and suggests trying to fund a town centre manager for two years to improve business prosperity. It is very much a cooperative approach with retailers working together for mutual benefit. It is also a strategic approach to creating a managed tenant mix.

5 Alex Hough Alsager businessman 24/4/2017 SA Alsager town centre generally

Alex has been engaged with Alsager town centre issues for a long time, including the MMU project. He has a lot of good ideas and visions about what Alsager could be and what sort of business and civic infrastructure is needed to make things happen. He also has a lot of contacts, both within the Alsager business community and beyond. He is also well informed on relevant academic research. I have invited him to be on the Town Centre Working Group.

6 Carrie Pletscher Town Councillor and member of local arts community

5/5/2017 SA Alsager town centre generally

Carrie works as an artist and has done courses in garden and landscape architecture. She is interested in improving the appearance and image of Alsager, and in taking forward a vision related to Alsager as a place of arts and artisans. Good ideas, creative, can see possibilities. She is also a town councillor. I have invited her to be on the Town Centre Working Group.

7 John Poulson Chairman, Alsager Partnership

9/5/2017 SA Alsager town centre generally and the role of Alsager Partnership

John has been involved with Alsager Partnership for many years, looking at different ways to improve the town centre and involve Alsager residents and businesses. Many of his ideas chime with our developing vision for Alsager. The role of Alsager Partnership is to promote and support Alsager and its community, and it will

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play an important part in helping us get engagement with the NP. John is willing to be on the Town Centre Working Group.

8 June Buckley Ex Alsager Partnership

11/5/2017 SA Town centre generally and MMU project

June was part of Alsager Partnership when the MMU High Street 2020 project was taking place. Lots of good ideas about how we could go forward, generally very positive, and a frequent social media (Facebook) user - generating responses. Knowledgeable and has a lot of contacts. Also runs her own business.

9 Peter and Margaret Thomson

Secretary, Alsager Riperians Association

16/5/2017 SA Access to the Mere

A discussion to explore what might be possible in terms of providing greater access for the public to the Mere. It is clear there cannot be access to entering the water itself since residents have security and privacy concerns. It might be possible to improve viewing of the Mere eg from Northolme Gardens, by better landscaping and a cafe or pop up kiosk.

10 Shirley Jones Town Councillor 12/6/2017 SA Town centre generally

Shirley was instrumental in getting the NP back on the Town Council agenda and arguing for it to be taken forward. Her top priority is to get a town centre manager, and she thinks it could be done by reviewing the current staffing structure. No need to wait for NP. Willing to help in any way, and particularly interested in business survey.

11 Foxlowe Arts Centre, LeekJane SearlesJane Elizabeth

Volunteers at FAC 10/7/2017 SACarrie PAlex HAlison T

Foxlowe Arts Centre

A group of us went to look at the Foxlowe Arts Centre in Leek, which has been instrumental in generating a much greater sense of community and a cultural revolution within the town. It is in a lovely old building in the centre of town and houses a lot of different cultural activities, run mostly by volunteers. This inspired us to think

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about attempting to do something similar in Alsager, as part of developing Alsager as an arts and culture town, possibly focusing on the west end of town and possibly making better use of the Town Council office building.

12 Shirley Jones Town Councillor 18/7/2-17 SA Town Council Offices

Following our visit to the Foxlowe Arts Centre I wanted to explore with Shirley the possibility of adapting and using the Town Council offices for arts purposes. She was keen, saying that the Town Council was already considering how to acquire the offices from Cheshire East (who had had difficulty in letting out the top floor). It might be possible for the Town Council and Alsager arts organisations to form a partnership with a view to the council officers having the top floor and arts organisations managing the ground floor for public access. Such a partnership would be able to bid for arts grants. I agreed to put together a proposal to go to the Town Council.

13 Carol Davenport Retired town planning

30/8/2017 SA and Carrie P

Town centre planning

Carol is a retired town planner (Greater Manchester), largely working with the Countryside Agency and on market towns. She largely agreed with our current view about how to take Alsager forward in terms of vision, attractiveness of town centre, identity, managing traffic and creating multiple walking/cycling routes to the town centre. She raised some issues for us to consider including the evening economy, the attitudes of incomers, the environment, the design of a road scheme, parking issues, and how best to respond to the call for allocation of sites.

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14 Janey Moran and Dr Marieke Navin

Cheshire East Cultural Economy team

26/9/2017 SA, CP, AH SHIFT and CEC support for cultural start-up activity

This was a follow-up meeting to the WEAVE networking event. We spoke about Alsager's aims for regeneration using the digital and creative economy and JM and MN discussed various examples and initiatives around Cheshire East. We focused on skills development and capacity building, targeting young people, and creating and managing sustainable maker space.

15 Alison Pole Director of Sixth Form, Alsager School

14/11/2017 SA, RW Youth survey We discussed the possibility of the sixth form leadership team taking on a project to design and administer a youth survey to all years of the school. AP thought this was something Year 12 could take on. She would appeal for volunteers and then arrange for us to brief them. The aim would be to get all students to complete the survey (paper in school or online out of school) and ask Maths students to do the statistical analysis.

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