Falmouth: what makes a good town centre

Falmouth Town Manager Richard Gates will be speaking at Westminster today about how other local authorities can follow Falmouth's lead in creating conditions for a busy and diverse high street.

He'll be giving a parliamentary briefing as part of the review of the Mary Portas project to stop the decline of the high street. He'll highlight how Falmouth has become a great example of creative and effective town centre management.

Following on from one of the key points made in the Portas Report on the state of the High Street, Falmouth has been singled out as a town leading the way in town management. This has seen the town continually buck the national high street trends of increasing empty shops and declining numbers of shoppers.

Richard Gates, Falmouth Town Manager said

Here's what Falmouth shopkeeper Anne Ayres thinks can be done to improve things further

Cornwall Council is the only local authority in the country which has set up a special team to provide specialist support and advice to local town centres. The team, which is led by Guy Thomas, is currently working in 18 towns across Cornwall.

In addition Liskeard is one of 12 town centres across the country to have been named as a Portas Pilot. The project is attempting to rejuventate high street shopping. Liskeard will benefit from a portion of a £1.2m cash pot and a tailored package of support from both local government minister Grant Shapps and retail guru Mary Portas.

More information and videos of the streets selected to take part in the Mary Portas Pilots can be found here.