This position statement has been prepared by Action for Market Towns (AMT) to inform its responses to key national policy proposals being developed by Central Government and other strategic organisations. It will also be used to guide the development and delivery of AMT’s proposed Sustaining Market Towns Programme and, after further consultation, it is intended that it will provide the basis for a Policy into Practice Paper on the same subject.

The Market Towns Context

In many senses the role and opportunities for community leadership and involvement in the sustainable development of market towns are broadly the same as in other communities across the country.  However, market towns are unusual in that they are of significant enough size to act as service ‘capitals’ for their rural hinterlands whilst still being compact enough to generally have high levels of community identification with their sense of place.  AMT believes, therefore, that there are some significant differences that merit some separate attention being given to the issue of community involvement in market towns:

The scale and cohesive identity of market towns (population size 3-35,000) means that it can be possible to intervene at a level that is both meaningful to individual local residents and of sufficient size to be cost-effective.

The often co-existence across market towns of forms of both representative (town councils) and participative (town partnerships) local democracy.

Policy Context

Whilst AMT remains fundamentally committed to community involvement in the sustainable development of market towns, it also recognises that the policy context is changing and that there is a need to re-evaluate its position in the light of current ‘realignments’ of policy and its application to the specific cirmumstances encountered in small rural towns.  Examples of current, ongoing policy intiatives that AMT needs to respnd to in this way include:

The Local Government White Paper and its apparently muted support for ‘localism’ and more substantive proposals for advancing asset transfer

The June 2007 launch of the influential Report of the Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development

The Commission for Rural Communities Inquiry into Strengthening the Role of Rural Councillors

Development of AMT’s Sustaining Market Towns Programme including its audit of research in to community leadership and involvement

The championing by the Community Alliance of the concept of ‘community anchor organisations and the interest expressed in this by the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG)

Regional proposals by the South East Rural Towns Partnership (SERTP) to revise guidance on market town healthchecks.

Different Roles

AMT recognises that there are four distinct roles for community involvement in market towns and other communities but that these do not all need to be delivered by the same organisation.  These four roles are:

Community consultation

Community-level action planning

Project management and delivery

Strategic Influence (See AMT’s new Policy into Practice Paper, Changing Opinions, published June 2007.

Co-Responsibility for Community Involvement 

AMT recognises that town-level responsibility for community involvement is typically shared between two types of organisations:  Town Councils and community or town partnerships.  Alongside this, district, borough or unitary local authorities may have a role in facilitating community involvement across a number of market towns.

Town Councils

Town Councils provide a very local level of representative democracy in most English market that does not have an equivalent in larger urban areas.  Without exception, they should therefore be key partners in any locally-led town regeneration, be represented on the town partnership board where one exists and formally adopt and advocate any agreed action plan.  In addition, town councils will often host any town partnership staff and many will serve as the initial focus for establishing a town partnership.  Often, and especially where they have achieved Quality Parish Council status, they will take a leading role in community consultation, action planning and in achieving strategic influence.  They may also have a role in some aspects of project delivery including development of their own assets such as community halls and tow centre enhancements.

Town Partnerships

Market Town Partnerships (MTPs) are community organisations that bring together, voluntary, pubic and private interests in an inclusive way to develop and deliver holistic, regeneration plans.  MTPs achieve their legitimacy by identifying community need on the basis of evidence gathered through a ‘healthcheck’ process that leads to the production of a market town action plan.

A recent study in the East of England (The Strategic Framework for the Future of Market Towns, published by the East of England Market Towns Advisory Forum). provided evidence of the effectiveness of MTPs and defined their future potential in consulting the community, delivering projects and influencing strategy.  This research reported that community capacity building has been an important core function of MTPs and that they have been successful in delivering projects and actively involving residents in their work. 

Although the success to date of MTPs around the country is widely recognised, it is equally understood that they face considerable organisational development needs if they are to prosper and attain maximum potential.  In a report from AMT’s National Convention in 2005 summarising the new way ahead for town regeneration, the development challenges facing MTPs were summarised as:  “Success in the continued regeneration of market towns lies in influencing regional and local strategies as well as a greater reliance on self-funding activities such as social enterprise.”

As the mini case studies below illustrate, MTPs do not have a prescribed form and vary from informal discussion forums for key stakeholders to independent and formally constituted companies.