Recommendation 84

Nevertheless, there was a consensus amongst our witnesses that even where change was being driven by others within the community, local authorities had “an absolutely critical role” 163 and that, owing to their statutory functions, they would always be involved in matters related to the high street. 164 We heard that Ashton-in-Makerfield provided a good example of this working well (see Box 5). Box 5: Ashton-in-Makerfield Ashton is a market town of 29,000 people in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan which struggles with traffic congestion on the narrow high street, exacerbated by HGVs exiting the M6 nearby. Local people previously described the high street as lacking identity, being largely composed of chain stores without many independent shops or a market square despite a strong local business community. Local residents expressed frustration that although the marketplace was used as a car park, the high street still experienced low footfall and there was a lack of a ‘heart’ to the town. In response to these challenges, in 2022 the council took the lead in building partnerships with the local community and supported the local voluntary sector and businesses. With the support of the High Streets Task Force, it set up the Ashton Innovation Board in 2023 and called for people to join, in order to provide a structure for local people to give their input and to build extra capacity from the bottom up. After being awarded £6.6 million from the Capital Regeneration Programme in the spring budget in 2023, the board has recruited further members from faith groups, schools and emergency services to ensure it is fully representative of the community. 165 It is now working in partnership with the council to shape the funding priorities and plans to improve the town in the future. Source: HSTF, Press Release: Ashton-in-Makerfield: Leading in Partnership on 6 October 2023: https://www.highstreetstaskforce.org.uk/latest-case-studies/ashton-in- makerfield-leading-in-partnership/ ; supplementary written evidence from the HSTF ( HSC0063 )