Government’s High Street Task Force pivots to crisis recovery strategy
The government’s High Street Task Force has paused projects and is gearing up to support a wider range of local authorities and business improvement districts struggling with effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The taskforce includes members from the Royal Town Planning Institute, the RICS, the Design Council and more, led by the Institute of Place Management, to deploy expertise and funds to 20 pilot locations.
It began working with 14 locations in February, but postponed seven future locations in response to the pandemic.
The government’s High Street Task Force has paused projects and is gearing up to support a wider range of local authorities and business improvement districts struggling with effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The taskforce includes members from the Royal Town Planning Institute, the RICS, the Design Council and more, led by the Institute of Place Management, to deploy expertise and funds to 20 pilot locations.
It began working with 14 locations in February, but postponed seven future locations in response to the pandemic.
The group has revised its strategy working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
It will now provide dedicated time from planners, designers, surveyors and a range of experts, with recovery strategies for a wider range of local authorities.
Simon Quin, co-founder and co-chair of the IPM, told EG: “We are trying to help towns through this stage of the crisis, into recovery and, to not just stop there, but to go into transformation.
“At this point, town centres are going to have to change radically.”
Member groups had planned to provide experts, paid for by the taskforce, to go work with pilot towns over the next four years, starting in July.
The IPM consulted with members on the new strategy in April, and will offer local authorities support starting this month.
Quin added: “Everything has changed and if we were to continue to work with the past programme, many towns might have gone beyond the stage where they needed help, before we would have been able to deploy that help.
“This way we have a chance to address that and at least get the towns thinking in the right way and beginning to take actions.”
This will be supported by a new website and Covid-19 recovery framework based on disaster reduction and risk management strategies.
A spokesman from MHCLG said: “Our high streets and town centres are the heart of local communities and we’ve introduced a comprehensive package to support them through this uncertain time and ensure that they can bounce back in the future.
“The High Streets Task Force is working to ensure it supports the high street in the best way possible through the Covid-19 pandemic, including through its online offer.”
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