This year’s regional winner of the National Market Town Awards was Richmond for the innovative Richmond Heritage Partnership Scheme. It is bringing new vitality to the town and boosting the economy by facilitating the restoration and repair of empty spaces to provide high quality business space, along with the restoration of shop fronts, the repair of the historic fabric of buildings, and the enhancement of the townscape through a programme of environmental improvement.

For a special video presentation on the Richmond scheme and links to working documents, including a draft town centre design guide go to:
Richmond presentation

Also online are details of all the other Yorkshire and Humber entries into this year’s Market Town Awards – hopefully they will inspire you to enter the Market Town Awards in 2008! Go to weblink:
regional award entries

Action for Market Towns has produced a special issue of Market Towns Review featuring regional winners from throughout the UK. You can download a pdf copy at:

The Yorkshire and Humber Market Towns Network is organising the first of a series of study tours to this year’s Yorkshire and Humber Market Towns Award winners.

Richmond’s Heritage Partnership Scheme, an innovative heritage-led pilot scheme under which town centre office space is being restored over shop premises will be the main focus of the day. It is intended that other developments such as the Richmond Station development and the nearby Innovate Business support centre will also be featured in the day.

Booking details will be e-mailed shortly.

One thing that many market town partnerships actively look at is – markets!

For many small towns, the market was the focus of the town’s trading. But with the growth of multiple retailers and under-investment in market facilities, many traditional markets have gone into decline or disappeared altogether.

But markets are staging a recovery: specialist markets, such as farmers’ markets or continental markets, attract many visitors. And it has been shown that new investment in market stalls and other infrastructure can spruce up a market’s image, pull in the customers and – in a virtuous circle – bring more traders into town.

In Yorkshire, many towns are well known for their markets. Here we look at two towns that are both investing in their markets and seeing the customers roll in. Cleckheaton has recently completed a £250,000 markets improvement programme, while Dewsbury market won the prestigious best national market award from the National Association of British Market Authorities. To find out more about both towns go to: Cleckheaton and Dewsbury markets

At this year’s Action for Market Towns Convention in Newmarket, markets were a major theme as the town is taking a major step by re-establishing a traditional street market.

If you weren’t at the convention, you can still access the presentations by clicking on these links:
click here for a presentation by Maria Bavetta on Tring Market Place
click here for a presentation by Philip Eden on Market Regeneration
click here for a presentation on Ely markets by Alison Callaby
click here for 'Markets in Market Towns' - A paper prepared for the Policy Working Group, Action for Market Towns

Markets are not just for trade. Historically they were an important social space as well, both for people living in the town and for those in the rural hinterland. And they can be again. The Joseph Rowntree Trust has just published research into markets as social spaces which can be downloaded from:

Camilla Govan is the new regional co-ordinator for Action for Market Towns, Yorkshire and Humber, taking over from Judith Fozzard, who moved to a new post in the summer. Camilla took up post in October. Click here for an outline of her background and the opportunities she sees for the Yorkshire and Humber Market Towns Network.

You can contact Camilla at:

This future scenarios study promotes the idea that community involvement is critical to the sustainable development of market towns in the next 25 years, in the context of new external challenges and drivers of change.

For a copy of this report, please go to weblink:

This comprehensive car parking study takes an analytical view of car parking and how the needs of different users and constraints in provision can be addressed most effectively for the benefit of your town.

How do we make best use of car parking in different locations? Can we manage without expanding provision? This report analyses who the car park users are, the issues that are important to them and how to manage existing provision to maximise the usage of all spaces. It shows that active car parking management is a powerful tool to help achieve regeneration objectives and can be structured to suit locals as well as visitors.

For a copy of the full report, please go to weblink:Car parking report

An executive summary is also available at weblink:

Will the emerging city regions agenda be an opportunity or a threat to market towns? It seems that this depends on where they fit, in or outside the boundaries, as well as what characteristics they have.

Action for Market Towns’ research and consulting division, amti has linked up with ECOTEC to work on this issue. They are organising a seminar on 30 November in Leeds Town Hall to look at the evidence to date, to debate emerging trends and identify gaps in our understanding of the processes at work. What mutual benefit is achievable in the regeneration of small rural towns and city regions and how can we maximise it?

For more information or to book a place on this seminar please contact Camilla Govan, at Action for Market Towns Yorkshire and Humber on 07818 07485

To download a programme go to:

Do you want to develop your skills in managing and leading sustainable communities?
The Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC) is currently recruiting to its learning programme ‘Raising Our Game’. The accredited programme will run in Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire in late 2007 and spring 2008.
For more information go to weblink:

The Playful Ideas programme will support projects that focus on innovation and new ways of providing for children’s play, with a minimum grant of £10,000 and a maximum of £250,000.

Projects seeking funding from this programme must display a creative and novel approach to addressing an identified need within the field of children’s play.

The programme is open to voluntary and community groups, the social enterprise sector, and town and parish councils. Closing date for applications is 31 December 2007.

BIG will make capital and revenue grants between £10,000 and £250,000 for projects lasting up to five years. They can pay for all or some of your projects costs.

If you have any queries about this programme, please contact the BIG Advice Line on 0845 4 10 20 30 where you can also obtain a Playful Ideas pack and guidance notes - or download them at:

A new guide on ways to tackle climate change at a local level - aimed at town and parish councils and local partnerships – has been published by Defra.
The Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Act 2006 gave parish and town councils specific powers in relation to local energy saving measures, which will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Parish and town councils can promote and support community initiatives to reduce emissions.
The guide offers advice on how parish and town councils can work with their communities to secure a more sustainable future, with case studies of some parish and town councils are already taking a lead in their communities to tackle climate change.
To download a pdf copy of the guide, go to:

Tadcaster Christmas market

Tadcaster’s Christmas Festival takes place on Sunday, 2 December.
There will be an outdoor Christmas Market in Kirkgate and Westgate as well as an indoor Craft Fair in the Riley Smith Hall. A special attraction this year will be Father Christmas in his Grotto in the Riley Smith Hall, a small fun fair will appeal to younger visitors to the market. A band will play a medley of tunes to provide a seasonal atmosphere. Shops and other facilities in the town will be open. There is ample parking in the town although Tadcaster is easily accessible by public transport as it is on the main Leeds/York bus route.
Anyone wishing to book a stall at the Christmas Market, should contact Tadcaster Town Council on 01937 834113.

Charity Bank in the North

Charity Bank in the North, based in Leeds, has been officially opened with a promise from its chief executive to "transform the financial landscape of the sector" in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
The bank is offering a range of finance options to organisations in the region, from seed-corn and patient capital to equity and loans, as well as various support services traditionally provided by support agencies. The services, designed to help organisations adopt a more business-like approach, include business planning, concept proofing, assessments of readiness for development and access to online diagnostic tools and reference materials.
For more information on Charity Bank in the North go to weblink: Charity Bank in the North

Changes to Regional Spatial Strategy

The Government has published its proposed changes to the draft Regional Spatial Strategy for the Yorkshire and Humber, increasing the total of new homes as well as boosting the number of future jobs.
The proposed changes would increase housing growth to over 22,000 a year, and annual job growth to 29,000. These increased figures reflect not only the pressing need for more homes in Yorkshire and Humber in response to an ageing and growing population, but also its economic potential.
Further details of changes to the Regional Spatial Strategy are on the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly website at: Regional Spatial Strategy

Increase in regional housing fund

Yorkshire and Humber has been allocated £559million in regional housing funding for 2008-11. This represents a 32% increase between 2007/8 and 2010/11, the third largest regional increase in the country.
The Commission for Rural Communities has welcomed the announcement and is looking to Regional Assemblies to increase funding allocations to levels that will seriously address needs, and result in at least 7% of national affordable housing funding going to rural communities.
For further details of the announcement go to weblink: Regional housing funding

If you like 'regional insight', then take a look at the national e-newsletter 'insight' published monthly by Action for Market Towns and mailed exclusively to AMT members.

Click here for a sample issue

Stories in November's Insight

Amongst the stories in November's Insight are a report on the Competition Commission recommendations on supermarkets and the launch of a major new book on market towns. To see the stories go to:

Insight

Membership of AMT

As well as Insight every month, there are many other benefits to joining Action for Market Towns - check out the membership packages at:

Membership benefits