July 4 2013

Malcolm Fraser, chair of a Scottish Government advisory group on town centre renewal, has published his long-awaited findings, outlining a range of measures designed to breathe new life into secondary urban spaces.

Amongst the raft of proposals contained within are calls to adopt a ‘town centre first’ principle whereby development is targeted at central areas by default, only migrating to further flung locales when there is no alternative.

Separate measures include a purge of derelict properties through collaboration with housing providers, a review of business rates incentivisation schemes and plugging a growing retail gap in town centres with new leisure, public facilties and homes.

These ideas will inform a government ‘action plan’ which will be delivered in the autumn.

Commenting on the publication Fraser told Urban Realm: “I hope we have found some important structural levers to pull, which will bear significant fruit in years to come. I think it is also significant that this represents a different direction of travel to that taken in England.”

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