Town Centre Forum - June 2024 meeting

Agenda

5pm - 7pm Stretford Public Hall or on Zoom: Join Zoom Meeting

812-1095-9937

Summary

• Andy welcomed everyone and discussed the agenda, which included reviewing the minutes of the previous meeting.
• He highlighted recent successful meetings with independent retailers and councillors.
• Bruntwood provided updates on town centre activities including the Summer in Stretford sports and activities program. She also announced the shortlisting of three finalists for the naming of the central square and encouraged voting until June 16th.
• There were discussions on challenging retail environment with a long-term decline in footfall and sales, peaking briefly in 2021 before declining again.
• It was referenced that visitor numbers are about 33% below pre-development levels due to highway works causing difficulties for customers. However there have been encouraging pre-let discussions with potential tenants for new units. It was flagged that there had been ongoing support for businesses, including employing a rates consultant for business rate appeals.
• Maria Bota, leading cultural strategy activity at Trafford Council discussed the implementation of the cultural strategy to create community creativity clusters in Stretford, Humphrey Park, and Longford. She flagged the Trafford Culture Education Partnership and called for more Trafford-based artists to register with the Trafford Creative group to receive updates on opportunities and commissioning. Lastly, she proposed a unified listings platform for Trafford to promote diverse cultural events across the region.
• Member updates included an upcoming visit of Royal Horticultural Society judges to local green spaces such as the Public Hall pocket park
• The meeting concluded with a StretFest update with an overview of the structure of the festival into five zones. Issues around waste management were discussed and a call for attendees to promote the festival via social media and mailing lists.