Tamworth what's next

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The success and vitality of Tamworth town centre has and always will be a top priority for this council, but we have to accept that the role of town centres is changing and we need to make sure ours is fit for purpose. We must look to the future and figure out how we can evolve the town centre to meet the needs of residents and visitors in the 21st century.

Town centre regeneration is high on our agenda and Cabinet has recently approved the development of a new Town Centre Strategy which sets out how this regeneration will be approached in the coming years.

We have to establish a new vision for Tamworth town centre, to identify viable uses that people want and that the market can support. We need to define what Tamworth town centre should offer to ensure it is thriving, successful and a place that people want to visit. It could be that the town should include more housing, more leisure, a greater variety of food and drink and more artisan retailers, for example.

So this is why we are asking 'What's Next for Tamworth?' We need your input. Whether you're a resident, visitor or business, we want to hear your ideas for the regeneration of Tamworth town centre so that we can start a positive debate that will hopefully lead to a busy and vibrant town for all to enjoy.

Hopefully by exploring these webpages, you will also gain a greater understanding of what Tamworth Borough Council can and can't influence. Business rates, for example, are set by the Government at a national level and Tamworth Borough Council can have no bearing on them. Most commercial rents in Tamworth are set by private landlords and again we have no bearing on them.

However, what we are doing is investing millions of pounds in the town centre and this presents us with a unique opportunity to begin to change its fortunes - but we have to get it right. We are also planning to submit a bid to the Government's new Future High Streets Fund and your feedback would help support our application.

We're hoping to bring lots of people and new ideas to the table - this is your chance to get involved and get creative.

Hundreds of people have so far completed a survey form with their ideas. The feedback from these forms has been collated and summarised to reveal the most popular 10 ideas and the main themes. The results were also fed back to more than 80 residents, visitors and businesses who attended a series of public workshops to further discuss the ideas put forward.

If you missed the workshops, you can view the slide presentation here.

Thank you.

Cllr Daniel Cook (Leader)