Town Centre Health Checks are required as a part of the Local Development Plan and should be useful documents that inform policy and practical project delivery. The last one published was undertaken in 2015.
Given the changing nature of our town centres, the requirement to have better baseline data and to help us better plan and prioritise for the future, we have identified that the format/structure needs refreshing to recognise this. Town Centre Health Checks should include indicators such as retailer representation, leisure and tourism facilities, night-time economy, footfall, vacancy rates, the quality of the public realm, accessibility, parking and community attitudes and perceptions to name just a few.
To try and get the template right for the whole of Aberdeenshire we have undertaken a pilot study in Inverurie over the past few months. Several new features were trialled:
- The indicators are grouped and scored using the 14 Place Standard headings
- Working with Inverurie BID to collaborate on data gathering, for example sharing a questionnaire directly with the business community and in
- Using Engage HQ to capture community and visitor views on the town centre including for example appearance, vibrancy, range of shops and services, and opening hours
- Working with other council teams such as community learning and development to undertake an accessibility audit with members of the community with lived experience of navigating the town centre
- Compiling the results in an exclusive report focused on Inverurie making it easier to find relevant information
- Presenting the data in an infographic style, including maps, quotes and graphs undertaking a footfall count over two days (Wednesday and Saturday)
Based on the very positive results of the pilot and the lessons learned, a full rollout is now taking place across an additional nine towns, Banff, Banchory, Ellon, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Macduff, Peterhead, Stonehaven and Turriff. A key part of this are two online surveys via EngageHQ to gather views – one for town centre users and one for town centre businesses.
Surveys can be found on the Town Centre Health Check Hub Page on the Councils online platform EngageHQ via this link: Engage Aberdeenshire