Abbeylands Residents – Page 13 – High Street Dunbar

Destination Dunbar

My presentation notes.

The fortunes of High streets have always waxed and waned, but the most recent decline of high streets seems inexorable and attempts to reverse it labelled by some as “mission impossible”. But the decline started long before the rise of the internet and comparison shopping, or out of town shopping became a popular pass time, but I am not here to give you a history lesson, except to say that the reasons for the decline are complex and not simple. They are rooted as much in changing attitudes and behaviours – the way we shop, work, play and holiday, as in changes in the economy, and for the that read also changes in technology, in the widest sense.

Continue reading Destination Dunbar

Funding High Street regeneration

Edinburgh Grassmarket BID is strongly supported by residents

Improving the fortunes of the High Street will not be cost neutral, and will need funding. So what are the options to lever in more finance? Whilst it is possible to recycle the money saved from unnecessary, low payoff or expensive schemes, businesses (and residents) have a limited control or vote over what this money would be spent on. Continue reading Funding High Street regeneration

Take over high street shop fronts

Starting with the empty ones first. It doesn’t have to be ELC to lead this, just a creative coalition of the willing who could – with a suitable preferably local sponsor – pull off something really imaginative. Below is what Bushmills has been doing in Co. Antrim, hiring artists to create fake shop fronts, which naturally has been picked up by the chattering classes and attracted a few tourists to boot. Why can we not do something similar?

But I don’t mean fill up a shop window with childish pictures masquerading as art or swamping us with pictures of the same ankle biters, which at least one local newspaper annoyingly peddles almost weekly now.

Allow pop up shops to setup to test a new product or business model, or perhaps extend the buzz from a neighbouring town (we could reciprocate) or bring the out of town into the centre (Knowes, Belhaven, The Store, Thistly Cross etc). But no car booters, though these could be welcomed to a suitable location at regular intervals.

Form an association of residents

A primary motivation for setting up a residents association might be to organise and articulate the residents’ perspective, which to my mind has long been neglected on Dunbar High Street. Tenants and Residents Associations typically:

keep residents informed of the issues affecting their area
campaign on local issues e.g. be it litter, antisocial behaviour or anything else
act as a sounding board for development proposals, preferably before they are drawn up
represent residents’ views to the local council / community council / business associations
organise, social, leisure or educational activities
get involved with area based schemes such as the Community and Police Partnership
join with other residents groups to discuss issues of common concern

Continue reading Form an association of residents