Towns Fund
Employing the heritage of England’s towns for sustainable, resilient development
In 2019 UK Government launched the Towns Fund, providing £2.35bn of Town Deal investment funding to 101 towns in England. With an aim to “regenerate town centres, boost businesses and improve infrastructure,” towns could bid for up to £25m for capital projects.
Arup provided multidisciplinary consultancy services for councils as they prepared their Town Investment Plans, each consisting of multiple projects to deliver long-term sustainable outcomes.
This involved guiding them on challenges and opportunities around their histories and heritage. Key issues included finding a positive new use for the monumental headstocks of a decommissioned coalmine; celebrating formative relationships with railway and harbour infrastructure; finding new uses for redundant town-centre buildings, from burnt-out churches to closed supermarkets; reconfiguring and repurposing market halls; and articulating a heritage ‘brand’.
Engaging with to so many towns allowed us to establish areas of common ground between them. We created working groups to facilitate knowledge-sharing between council officers with similar concerns, including a well-attended forum themed around the reuse of former industrial buildings.
