St Annes Town Centre Strategy and Masterplan

The Commission will include three stages Stage 1 - Commercial Potential Assessment and Town Centre Health Check Stage 2 - Masterplans for St Annes Town Centre and the Island Stage 3 - Branding and Marketing Strategy for St Annes Stage 1 – Commercial Potential Assessment and Town Centre Health Check, including but not limited to: - A review of latest government policy on retail and town centres, Future High Streets Fund, Homes England Funds and other government funding programmes; - An assessment of commercial investment funds with an interest in investing in St Annes; - A review of representations in relation to the Local Plan and draft responses or recommendations for alterations in policy; - Advice on tailoring existing local plan policy to meet the emerging needs of St Annes Town Centre; - Updated primary research in the form of a full consumer survey targeting residents and visitors to understand shopping, tourism and leisure habits and the implications for future demands and needs; - trends and yields; - Advice for projected needs for comparison and convenience retail floorspace and other town centre uses/activities up to 2032 including a 5 and 10 year plan period; - A review of the current proposals with planning permission, allocations and representations in relation to the adopted Local Plan for retail and town centre uses to ascertain any residual requirements that might need to be met through additional development proposals. Stage 2 – Preparation of the Town Centre Masterplan and The Island Masterplan (Stage 2A and 2B respectively), to include the following: - An updated masterplan prepared by an Architectural firm; - A high-level cost appraisal of the development using similar schemes and cost benchmark data; - A high-level economic viability study of the masterplan i.e. what will the regenerated asset(s) long term revenue impact be to the Council and what will the long-term indirect benefits bring i.e. jobs, tourism growth, leisure numbers; - Consideration of the adjacent town centre regeneration aspirations; - An appraisal of the current market – exploring opportunities and possible ‘meanwhile strategies’; - A town planning strategy to sit alongside the updated masterplan; - A report recommending potential options for procurement and delivery of the masterplan, including funding opportunities, phasing, extent of council direct involvement and governance; - Project management of the above to ensure a coordinated masterplan document is produced and is consulted on properly Stage 3 – Branding and Marketing Strategy for St Annes, including but not limited to: - Understand and appreciate the value of the visitor economy of the resort of St Anne’s in its local, sub regional and regional context expressed in economic terms; - Based on previous studies, assess the visitor segment markets and highlight the potential areas of growth within the visitor economy; - Identify particular sectors within the visitor economy and highlight interventions and actions that may help with the growth of the visitor economy in respect of broad leisure attractions and facilities based around the assets and potential of the resort and its broader context. This may be influenced by locational advantage, heritage, coastline and other unique attributes; - Assess the level/type of visitor accommodation and recommend how any gaps in the market may be addressed e.g. capacity, type, standard; - Appreciate trends in visitor stays and spend and how this may affect the resort and its aspirations for growth in the future; - Identify how any future planning or zoning for the resort may take advantage of particular growth segments e.g. specialised locations or particular ‘street character’ types; - Based on previous studies and any potential reassessment, advise on any unique characteristics of place that can assist on the branding of St. Anne’s as a unique ‘place type’ to be used in future marketing, promotion and reputation building; - Based around the concept of creating a resort of high-quality offer and reputation through the creation of a framework for quality standards ‘The Classic Resort’ concept, create an agreed destination management charter between all of the stakeholders and an agreed management plan to achieve the appropriate standards; - Establish the appropriate standard measures to be agreed through partnership; - Agree action planning, monitoring and a review process; - Engage the Tourist authorities to agree the measures; - Explore potential partnership working with other similar located coastal towns to create a ‘quality’ network.