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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2013/mar/21/retail-mary-portas
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| Stockport's Town Team has failed to reflect the Portas Pilot principles | Stockport's Town Team has failed to reflect the Portas Pilot principles |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| It's been over a year since the government announced that it would award £100,000 to 12 towns across the country as part of Mary Portas' recommendations for the future of the high street and, since then, nearly all of the successful Portas Pilot towns have run into problems. | It's been over a year since the government announced that it would award £100,000 to 12 towns across the country as part of Mary Portas' recommendations for the future of the high street and, since then, nearly all of the successful Portas Pilot towns have run into problems. |
| Criticism has been fired left, right and centre at the initiative, the government and even Mary Portas herself. However, for me, the blame really lies at the door of those who have failed to embrace the type of change advocated in The Portas Review. That's right, I'm looking at you, local councils. | Criticism has been fired left, right and centre at the initiative, the government and even Mary Portas herself. However, for me, the blame really lies at the door of those who have failed to embrace the type of change advocated in The Portas Review. That's right, I'm looking at you, local councils. |
| Having been part of Stockport's Portas Pilot bid, I've witnessed this at first hand. In February 2012, Stockport council asked me to film the video that would go alongside their written Portas Pilot bid. After I discovered that their idea of a 'transformational vision' was just rehashing old notions that had already been tried in the town, I decided to go away and put together a creative vision which I thought was more in line with The Portas Review. | Having been part of Stockport's Portas Pilot bid, I've witnessed this at first hand. In February 2012, Stockport council asked me to film the video that would go alongside their written Portas Pilot bid. After I discovered that their idea of a 'transformational vision' was just rehashing old notions that had already been tried in the town, I decided to go away and put together a creative vision which I thought was more in line with The Portas Review. |
| I started interviewing local stakeholders, independent traders, residents and young entrepreneurs and we all agreed that the Market and Underbanks area of the town should be the main focus of the bid. While the area had literally become the forgotten part of the town for an entire generation, an influx of creativity might make it an attractive destination, especially for the town's large population of young people. | I started interviewing local stakeholders, independent traders, residents and young entrepreneurs and we all agreed that the Market and Underbanks area of the town should be the main focus of the bid. While the area had literally become the forgotten part of the town for an entire generation, an influx of creativity might make it an attractive destination, especially for the town's large population of young people. |
| The video was submitted online and received praise from Mary Portas herself, who described our bid as being 'led by the young and fearless people of Stockport'. We were really excited, especially after we found out that our town had been chosen as one of the first Portas Pilots. The energy, community spirit and positive momentum that had grown out of putting the bid video together could now be truly built on. | The video was submitted online and received praise from Mary Portas herself, who described our bid as being 'led by the young and fearless people of Stockport'. We were really excited, especially after we found out that our town had been chosen as one of the first Portas Pilots. The energy, community spirit and positive momentum that had grown out of putting the bid video together could now be truly built on. |
| Stockport council, however, had other plans. It decided to select representatives to sit on a Town Team Committee which would be responsible for the management and delivery of the Portas Pilot. They did so without consulting any of the people who had been involved in putting the bid video together and, as a result, created a committee which did not reflect our creative vision. | Stockport council, however, had other plans. It decided to select representatives to sit on a Town Team Committee which would be responsible for the management and delivery of the Portas Pilot. They did so without consulting any of the people who had been involved in putting the bid video together and, as a result, created a committee which did not reflect our creative vision. |
| Sitting on this committee was a large retailer, Merseyway Shopping Centre and members of the Chamber of Commerce, hardly the type of grassroots, community leadership that was needed to deliver fresh, new and exciting ideas. | Sitting on this committee was a large retailer, Merseyway Shopping Centre and members of the Chamber of Commerce, hardly the type of grassroots, community leadership that was needed to deliver fresh, new and exciting ideas. |
| At the time I tried to reason with the council and explain that 'Town Teams' were all about trying new ways of working through maximum collaboration. The Portas Review explicity states that they shouldn't be the "usual suspects round a table planning the Christmas decorations". | At the time I tried to reason with the council and explain that 'Town Teams' were all about trying new ways of working through maximum collaboration. The Portas Review explicity states that they shouldn't be the "usual suspects round a table planning the Christmas decorations". |
| Stockport was adamant, however, that it was their way or the highway. | Stockport was adamant, however, that it was their way or the highway. |
| I could see that they were wrapping the whole thing up in bureaucracy and red tape, listing security and cleanliness standards of the town centre as one of their main priorities. They weren't planning on delivering a Portas Pilot, they were planning on doing the same old thing with the same old people. | I could see that they were wrapping the whole thing up in bureaucracy and red tape, listing security and cleanliness standards of the town centre as one of their main priorities. They weren't planning on delivering a Portas Pilot, they were planning on doing the same old thing with the same old people. |
| To get the message out I wrote a blog for the Stockport Express in which I said that | To get the message out I wrote a blog for the Stockport Express in which I said that |
| "In my opinion, the council just doesn't get what the Portas Pilot is all about. All it seems to be bothered about is big business and corporate structures." | "In my opinion, the council just doesn't get what the Portas Pilot is all about. All it seems to be bothered about is big business and corporate structures." |
| The blog was picked up by Mary Portas who Tweeted out | The blog was picked up by Mary Portas who Tweeted out |
| "What Stockport council are doing is against most of the Portas Pilot principles we worked so hard to place." | "What Stockport council are doing is against most of the Portas Pilot principles we worked so hard to place." |
| They still carried on regardless, however, and in the past nine months Stockport's Town Team Committee have achieved next to nothing. | They still carried on regardless, however, and in the past nine months Stockport's Town Team Committee have achieved next to nothing. |
| A recent freedom of information request by Rochdale boutique owner Paul Turner-Mitchell, a fellow Guardian Northerner writer, revealed that Stockport's Town Team Committee has spent a grand total of £0 of the £100,000 Portas Pilot money available, and the town has since rocketed back to the top of the list for being the largest town centre with the highest number of empty shops in the UK. | A recent freedom of information request by Rochdale boutique owner Paul Turner-Mitchell, a fellow Guardian Northerner writer, revealed that Stockport's Town Team Committee has spent a grand total of £0 of the £100,000 Portas Pilot money available, and the town has since rocketed back to the top of the list for being the largest town centre with the highest number of empty shops in the UK. |
| During this same period of time we've set up and run The Teenage Market, Screen Stockport Film Festival, Seven Miles Out Music and Arts Festival and our pop-up shop The Glass Umbrella. Through these projects we've given young people a platform to express themselves and have introduced them to Stockport's Market area which, to me, was what Stockport's Portas Pilot should have been all about. | During this same period of time we've set up and run The Teenage Market, Screen Stockport Film Festival, Seven Miles Out Music and Arts Festival and our pop-up shop The Glass Umbrella. Through these projects we've given young people a platform to express themselves and have introduced them to Stockport's Market area which, to me, was what Stockport's Portas Pilot should have been all about. |
| Mary Portas visited the town recently to check up on its progress and stressed to everyone how important our creative vision was when awarding Stockport Portas Pilot status. She wanted to see a return to the innovation and energy that first attracted her to the town, in order to make the Market and Underbanks area an 'incredible, independent and unique destination'. | Mary Portas visited the town recently to check up on its progress and stressed to everyone how important our creative vision was when awarding Stockport Portas Pilot status. She wanted to see a return to the innovation and energy that first attracted her to the town, in order to make the Market and Underbanks area an 'incredible, independent and unique destination'. |
| In order to do this, a new group needs to be created to drive forward the Portas Pilot in Stockport. A group that builds on the success of specialist, boutique events like The Vintage Village, The Teenage Market and Stockoberfest, which have already had a big positive impact and have brought new people to the area. | In order to do this, a new group needs to be created to drive forward the Portas Pilot in Stockport. A group that builds on the success of specialist, boutique events like The Vintage Village, The Teenage Market and Stockoberfest, which have already had a big positive impact and have brought new people to the area. |
| Until we see a move away from the autonomy of local councils and a move towards empowering members of the local community, it's unlikely we'll see the level of revolutionary activity that was promised by the Portas Pilots. | Until we see a move away from the autonomy of local councils and a move towards empowering members of the local community, it's unlikely we'll see the level of revolutionary activity that was promised by the Portas Pilots. |
| Local councils have their part to play in this initiative but, as Mary Portas has said, they need to be 'facilitators not enforcers'. | Local councils have their part to play in this initiative but, as Mary Portas has said, they need to be 'facilitators not enforcers'. |
| Joe Barratt, who is 19, led Stockport's successful Portas Pilot bid and launched the Teenage Market to match young entrepreneurs with business mentors, giving them free stalls to try out their ideas. He has previously blogged on the issue for the Northerner here and described the work of local young film-makers at the Screen Stockport Festival here. | Joe Barratt, who is 19, led Stockport's successful Portas Pilot bid and launched the Teenage Market to match young entrepreneurs with business mentors, giving them free stalls to try out their ideas. He has previously blogged on the issue for the Northerner here and described the work of local young film-makers at the Screen Stockport Festival here. |
| And here's more proof of Stockport's potential - Joe's film of the Winter Wassale in the town's markets at Christmas. | And here's more proof of Stockport's potential - Joe's film of the Winter Wassale in the town's markets at Christmas. |
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