Oswestry Town Team World Café consultation
Everyone interested in contributing to the future of Oswestry’s town centre is being invited to come along to a World Café consultation to talk about creating a Town Team for Oswestry, and work out what the priorities for action in the town centre should be.
The creation of Town Teams is a recommendation of The Portas Review – Mary Portas’ independent report to the Government on the future of our high streets, with their purpose being to provide visionary, strategic and strong management of town centres and to make them accessible, attractive and safe.
As a result of Oswestry applying to become a Portas Town, it has received a funding windfall of £10,000 to use in promoting and improving the offer of its town centre, along with access to a range of expert support.
Shropshire Council, Oswestry Chamber of Commerce and Oswestry Town Council are keen to see the creation of a Town Team with an enthusiastic and diverse membership, that can work together on all the aspects that make up a vibrant, welcoming town centre, which people consider a great place to shop and do business.
Martin Anderson, Chair of Oswestry Chamber of Commerce, said:
“The World Café consultation will kick start the conversations that will decide who will make up the Team and what it should focus its energies on, which is why it’s really important that everyone who has an interest in the shops, homes, businesses, buildings, infrastructure, events or heritage that makes Oswestry’s town centre as special as it is should come along and take part.”
Councillor Martin Bennett, Mayor of Oswestry, added:
“We hope that a new Town Team will complement and add to the work already started by the Oswestry Joint Economic Board to address the town centre issues we know are important to the people who live, work and shop here. Oswestry has so much going in its favour, including strong community involvement and a sense of local entrepreneurship. If we can harness and build on that energy we can all work together to make a real difference in these challenging times.”
The World Café will be jointly hosted by the Shropshire Council, Chamber of Commerce and Oswestry Town Council, and will be facilitated by the Project North team – Shropshire Council’s new business and enterprise support team in north Shropshire.
The Town Team World Café event will be held on Tuesday 29 January 2013 at The Centre, Oak Street, Oswestry. Doors are open from 6pm for a 6.30pm start. Light refreshments will be provided. Everyone is warmly welcome.
For more information, contact Kate Garner, Shropshire Council on 01691 677318 or email katherine.macdonald@shropshire.gov.uk.
