Category Archives: Local Authorities

2022: the stirlingretail.com year in retrospect

This time of the year I normally produce my last post and look back at the activity on the blog during the calendar year. My reviews for 2020 and 2021 covered the two years with the most visitors the site … Continue reading

Posted in 1977, Bristol Pound, Cooperative Tokens, Department Stores, Food Retailing, Grocery, Local Authorities, Market Shares, MIlk, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Places, Planning, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail Strategy, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Stirling, Stirling Council, Tesco, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Urban History, Who Owns Scotland? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Season’s Greetings 2022

As Chair of Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) I get to put a Christmas message in the final bulletin of the year which goes out to members. This is an appropriate opportunity to reflect briefly on the last year generally and for STP … Continue reading

Posted in Bids Scotland, Christmas, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centres, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Who Owns Scotland’s Towns, High Streets and Shopping Centres?

One of the issues raised in the recent report by the Economy and Fair Work Committee of the Scottish Parliament concerned the lack of transparency over the ownership of much of the property in Scotland. I noted this in the … Continue reading

Posted in Community Ownership, Dumfries, Government, High Streets, Landlords, Legislation, Local Authorities, Midsteeple Quarter, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Out of Town, Place Based Investment Programme, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, Streets, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Urban, Vacancies, Who Owns Scotland? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

An Inquiry into Retail and Town Centres in Scotland

In January 2022 the Economy and Fair Work Committee of the Scottish Parliament began its preparation and work into its “Inquiry into Retail and Town Centres in Scotland”.  As this blog has covered before, I gave evidence to the Inquiry … Continue reading

Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Barclay Review, BIDS, High Streets, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Non-domestic rates, Out of Town, Place Based Investment Programme, Place Principle, Retail Change, Retail Strategy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Out-of-Town Retailing: National Planning Framework (NPF) 4 and Stirling (again)

The 8th November saw the publication of the revised National Planning Framework 4 – the national spatial and planning strategy for Scotland. It will now be the subject of further parliamentary discussion before hopefully being approved. This revision is the … Continue reading

Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Asda, City Centres, Climate Emergency, Food Retailing, Land Use Planning, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Out of Town, Place Principle, Retail Impact Assessments, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Sequential Approach, Spatial Planning, Stirling, Stirling Council, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centres | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Scotland’s Towns Conference 2022

Three long years after the last such event, we were finally able to host Scotland’s Towns Conference in person. On Wednesday 16th November a sell-out crowd of over 220 people made their way to the impressive Centrestage in Kilmarnock (Scotland’s … Continue reading

Posted in Community, Community Assets, community wealth building, Creative Places, Digital, High Streets, Land Use Planning, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Places, Retail Change, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Streets, Streetscapes, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Town Centre Action Plan Launch and Roadshows

It was good to get back out and about and to be in Galashiels on the 31st May for the launch of the Town Centre Action Plan.  Last Autumn I wrote about the Great Tapestry of Scotland and its stunning … Continue reading

Posted in Government, Great Tapestry of Scotland, Local Authorities, Localisation, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Non-domestic rates, Place Based Investment Programme, Place Principle, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Small Business Bonus Scheme

One of the recommendations of the 2017 Barclay Review of the Non-Domestic Rates System in Scotland was that an evaluation of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) be undertaken. Five years on, it has finally arrived, all 232 pages of … Continue reading

Posted in Barclay Review, Government, Internet, Large Store Levy, Legislation, Local Authorities, Non-domestic rates, Online Retailing, Out of Town, Public Policy, Rates, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Small Business Bonus Scheme, Small Shops, Tax, Town Centres | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Town Centre Action Plan 2

This is a rather longer post than I had intended, but given I worked pretty hard for 8 months on the Report to which the Response has just been published, I hope you will indulge me. In 2020 I was … Continue reading

Posted in Car Use Reduction, Climate Emergency, Government, High Streets, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Place Based Investment Programme, Place Principle, Planning, Public Policy, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

At the Heart of Economic Transformation? The City Centre Recovery Task Force Report

There can be little doubt that the pandemic has affected city centres to a far greater extent than many places. City centre businesses and organisations depend on residents, visitors, tourists and workers for their footfall and trade. When lockdowns occurred, … Continue reading

Posted in Aberdeen, Cities, City Centres, Consumer Change, Dundee, Edinburgh, Employment practices, Footfall, Glasgow, Local Authorities, Lockdown, Pandemic, Place Principle, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments