A £2m programme to share knowledge and good practice in revitalising market towns has been launched by Action for Market Towns (AMT). The Towns Alive initiative will run over five years, supported by £1m from the Big Lottery Fund. Aimed primarily at AMT’s 400 members, it will help build skills within market town partnerships to help them tackle key pressures affecting their futures. A market towns academy will develop and run training programmes to boost the business skills of market town partnerships. One of the first pilot courses planned will focus on leadership skills. ‘Those partnerships which have been successful have been those with good heads,’ said Chris Wade, chief executive of AMT. It’s about developing their business skills so they can get on and secure their future.’ A market towns ‘knowledge hub’ will collate and coordinate research and policy studies affecting market towns to bring greater weight and influence to national and regional policy. One of the first campaigns will be on the issue of community-led planning. A ‘towns-for-towns’ programme will use peer-to-peer learning to help towns share knowledge and good practice.

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8 October 2008
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