🏰 Market Towns: Cultural Heritage

• Cultural Heritage Definition and Importance: Market towns are historically significant, often originating from royal charters that granted the right to host markets. These towns have evolved into economic and cultural hubs, contributing to the development of local infrastructure and community identity.

• Personal Engagement: Mr. Bayo Alaba shared his personal experiences growing up around markets and his involvement in market regeneration projects, emphasizing the importance of community involvement in revitalizing market towns.

• Local Examples: Members discussed specific examples from their constituencies, such as Rochford’s historic market square, Tamworth’s castle, and the vibrancy of markets in Newtownards and Comber.

• Economic Challenges: Market towns are facing economic difficulties, including increased shop vacancies and decreased footfall due to changes in consumer habits, the rise of online shopping, and retail park competition.

• Heritage and Tourism: The tourism industry, which relies heavily on heritage sites, contributes significantly to the economy. Market towns play a key role in attracting tourists, supporting local economies, and fostering civic pride.

• Government Initiatives: The government’s heritage revival fund and other initiatives aim to support the regeneration of market towns. The arts everywhere fund and the plan for neighborhoods program are designed to provide local communities with resources to preserve and enhance their cultural heritage.

• Local Authority Challenges: There has been a decrease in local authority spending on heritage, leading to a loss of expertise in conservation and archaeology, which impacts the ability to protect and utilize cultural heritage assets effectively.

• Infrastructure and Connectivity: Improving public transport and infrastructure is crucial for the survival and growth of market towns, enabling better access and supporting local economies.

• Community Engagement and Decision Making: Effective governance and community involvement are essential for the development and maintenance of market towns. Proposals include the establishment of community improvement districts to give local voices more influence.

• Policy and Planning: Suggestions were made to reform the planning system to encourage adaptive reuse of heritage sites and streamline decision-making processes to protect and enhance market towns’ heritage.

• Cultural and Creative Industries: The creative industries, including music and arts, play a significant role in the cultural heritage and economic vitality of market towns, with examples such as live music venues and cultural festivals.

• Tourism Strategy: The government aims to increase international tourism to market towns, recognizing their importance in the national tourism strategy and the visitor economy.

• Devolution and Local Control: There is support for devolution and local government reform to allow local leaders to have more control over the strategic vision for their regions, particularly in market towns.

• Business and Economic Support: Concerns were raised about the impact of business rates and taxes on small businesses in market towns, with calls for policy changes to support these vital local economies.

The session on the cultural heritage of market towns demonstrated a moderate level of disagreement, warranting a rating of 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. The disagreements were primarily focused on policy implications and government approaches to supporting market towns, but they were relatively few and courteous compared to more heated debates. Here are the key examples and explanations of the disagreements displayed during the session:

1. Policy Disagreements:
   • Business Rates and Taxation: The Liberal Democrats (represented by Gideon Amos) and the Conservatives (represented by Saqib Bhatti) expressed dissent regarding the current government’s approach to business rates and taxation, particularly emphasizing the burden on small businesses in market towns. They argued that the government’s policies on national insurance and business rates could harm the future of market towns. This represents a clear policy disagreement on economic strategies and their impacts.
   • Planning and Housing Policies: Saqib Bhatti voiced concerns about the Labour government’s new planning proposals, suggesting they could potentially disrupt market towns’ heritage and community sense by rapidly expanding housing without sufficient infrastructure. This reflects a disagreement on planning and development policies that directly affect the preservation of cultural heritage in market towns.
2. Implementation and Effectiveness of Measures:
   • Energy Performance Certificates: Sir Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative) raised the issue of energy performance certificates for historic buildings in market towns, mentioning that the previous government’s policy made it almost impossible to rent such premises if they did not meet certain energy standards. This indirectly highlights a disagreement with the previous government’s environmental policies and their implications on market town heritage sites.
3. Funding and Support for Market Towns:
   • Devolution and Local Control: While not a confrontation, there was a subtle disagreement on how devolution and local control should be managed. Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru) proposed abolishing business rates on car parks to support free parking in market towns, whereas Gideon Amos suggested empowering local councils and communities. This underlines varying perspectives on how financial support should be distributed and managed at the local level.

The disagreements were less intense and focused primarily on the specifics of policy implementation and their potential impacts on market towns. The session did not contain personal attacks, harsh criticisms, or significant interruptions, which kept the overall tone moderate. Most representatives spoke to the importance and value of market towns and their cultural heritage, indicating a broad consensus on the issue’s significance, yet with nuanced divergences on how best to support them practically.