Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub- Committee Meeting

Mulberry Place – Room 702 10 th September 2019

Fiona Crehan, Senior Programme Manager, High Streets & Town Centres team High Streets & Town Centres – Supporting new and existing businesses

• Developed draft strategy in 2017 with Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM) and Retail Group

• Combined High Streets & Town Centre and Market strategies into one document • HS&TC Strategy (2017-2022) adopted in October 2018.

• Set of 20 Performance Indicators (PIs) • 20 Performance Indicators under 5 Priorities: – Priority 1 Improve retail offer – Priority 2 Develop & support high street partnerships – Priority 3 Improve management of the Public Realm – Priority 4 Improve management of street markets – Priority 5 Reduce Crime & Anti Social Behaviour ATCM Performance Indicators Managing delivery of high street regeneration programmes

• High Streets & Town Centres team (from June 2016) • Team of 7 (5 in post now) . Staff and delivery funded by: – Thriving High Streets NHB £1M capital & £1.2M revenue (June ‘16 to October 2019) – Regeneration Programme £2.69M capital S106 (‘17-’22) – Middlesex Regeneration Programme £2.7M capital S106, LIF & CIL (July ‘19-’22) – Roman Road West Regeneration Programme £1.57M capital & £100K revenue S106, LIF and CIL (Aug ‘19-’22) – Watney Market Regeneration Programme (in development) – Regeneration Programme (in development) – Regeneration Programme (in development)

• HS&TC Working Group of Council officers from key teams (chaired by Cllr Uz-Zaman) • Engagement through local high street partnerships • Joint working with stakeholders (THH and asset owners) Joint working with range of Council teams

Team Area of joint working on high street programmes Market Services Improvements to street market infrastructure, layout and market canopies, social media training for market traders, trader recruitment, customer research and footfall counts. Waste Management Support dialogue with high street businesses & partnerships re waste & recycling, identify & broker access to locations for waste consolidation, pilot waste oil collection, food waste research, support development of new waste service. Clean & Green Provided electric street cleaning vehicle and 2 operatives with Veolia, support fly-tipping, graffiti and tagging removal, set-up care for street planters with community and shops Asset Management and Improvements to make Watney Market service yard secure. Activate Facilities Management underused assets: vacant shops, toilets, lock-ups, car park and garages (Watney Market, Brick Lane, Middlesex Street and Roman Road West) Transport Engineering and Pedestrianize street (Brick Lane), street signage, wayfinding, lighting, Highways power for traders, decluttering and street furniture Geography Info System Street renaming (e.g. Osbourne Street to Brick lane) Joint working with Council teams…..…

Team Area of joint working on high street programmes Parks, Leisure & Open Redesign Allen Gardens, new access route from Uni campus via Spaces to Roman Road West, gardening projects Environmental Health & Food Hygiene Inspector to help businesses improve their food Licensing hygiene rating. Pilot Council commercial pest control service. Night time economy and touting issues etc Public Health Promoting ‘Food for Health’ menus, dementia friendly public spaces, enabling access to green space Community Safety CCTV, Anti-Social Behaviour, Tower Hamlets Enforcement Planning and Comment on high street planning applications, support planning Development Control enforcement (illegal For Sale Signs & billboards etc) Regeneration Team Support development of regeneration programme Workpath Training for unemployed women to become market traders Poverty Team Benefits advice for women training to be market traders Enterprise Support setting-up business advice for start-up and existing high street businesses and market traders. ICT Digital Programmes Investment in fibre in lock-ups to create workspace (RRW) Challenges faced by high street businesses and market traders e.g.: Housing and economic growth generating new businesses opportunities for high streets Support to address weaknesses includes: • Poor food hygiene rating (<3*) Funded Food Hygiene Inspector - 90+ businesses supported to improve food hygiene rating • Online platforms not used to secure sales – Reps from Just Eat met restaurants • Only 30-50% of businesses and 90% of market traders not online - trained 70+ businesses and 20+ market traders to use Facebook/ Instagram • Shops and market stalls not open before 10am – not securing breakfast market sales • Menus complicated and confusing – 8 Brick Lane restaurants pilot short lunch and Christmas party menu in 2018 • Solid metal shutters with graffiti – installing open grill shutters in shopfront improvements • Competing demand on space and narrow pavements – declutter, redesign market layout • Poor visual appeal of street markets - pilot new market stall canopy • Street markets offer not kept pace with customer needs – market research with customers • Late waste collections – sourced locations for storing waste in between collection • Poor connections between spaces - Opening-up walking routes, wayfinding, signage • Declining occupancy rate on markets and few women traders– recruiting women as traders • Demand to convert commercial space to residential – refer potential tenants to agents Local partnerships support delivery of programmes

High street businesses, market trader and their reps, resident groups reps, heritage groups, stakeholders, housing association take part in partnerships • Attend events to support consultation on development of programmes • Partnerships include: – Brick Lane Regeneration Partnership – Middlesex Street Partnership (joint with City of ) – The Aldgate Partnership (link to Business Improvement District) – Bethnal Green Partnership (co-ordinated by Oxford House) – Roman Road West Regeneration Partnership – Watney Market Partnership (link with Public Health) – Whitechapel (in development)

• Chrisp Street (through PoplarHARCA) • Joint working with: Gateway Housing, Tower Hamlets Homes and One Housing, Queen Mary University London and others Roman Road East Regeneration programme

Image above – Sweet Treats shop before shopfront improvement. Image below – shop after improvements

• Piloted vintage branded market canopies for stalls on Roman Road East market (2018) • Clear back and side panels to give sightline to shops • Electric metres on street for market traders Brick Lane Regeneration programme

• Public realm feasibility study recommendations: - Traffic calming at key junctions - Replace and redesign Banglatown arch - Security barrier for street market - Signage, wayfinding and art trail - Pedestrianizing Brick Lane (Sunday) • Shopfront improvements • Activate vacant upper floor space • Reporting on Crime & ASB • Feasibility study on Allen Gardens • Waste and recycling storage solutions

Left - Waste oil storage in Above – Banglatown Arch ton Truman hazard list and to be replaced. Brewery. Opportunities Left – Example of short lunch to take waste menu to replace 20 page menu off the street used by curry restaurants Brick Lane Regeneration programme……

Image above - Quaker Coffee, before vacant Image above – Aladin restaurant two units with metal shutters space. Image below - shows after Image below - shows Aladin double unit after improvements improvements bookable workspace Watney Market Regeneration Programme

Left – Two service yards off the market attracted rough sleepers, drug users and people urinating in the yard.

Right – Public Health organised workshop in 2018 to discuss issues and request action in Watney Market

Right – deep clean and painted service yard walls. Below – security shutters operated by fob installed. Below right – market canopies to be improved Watney Market Regeneration Programme….

Opportunities to increase footfall: 1. Left - 80 vacant garages off Hainton Close to be activated. Feasibility study to set out options to activate garages.

2. Right – potential to rent spare spaces in underused car park off Deancross Road. Poor quality exit and underused public realm from car park onto Commercial Road. Feasibility study for new exit from car park and public realm by autumn 2019. Bethnal Green Regeneration programme

• Wedding shops and • Craft beer pubs along Bethnal Green Road • But limited benefit from proximity to V&A Children’s Museum • Shop units on Bethnal Green Road in need of improvement: 287-293 and 408-422 • Broken shop signs and lack of design standard

• View of Bethnal Green market stalls from bus. • Sightline to shops obscured by market stall canvas • Limited / no break in market stalls • Prevents view of shops • Some traders anchor their stall to shop buildings • Developing options to anchor stalls to pavement • Market stall prototype on order • Developing PID for autumn 2019 for Bethnal Green Middlesex Street Regeneration programme

• Petticoat Lane Market iconic destination (one of oldest in London) • Joint working - Tower Hamlets Council and since 2017 • Events with businesses, traders and residents (top right in ’19, below in ‘18) • Public Realm Feasibility Study in 2018: – Street scene improvements, – Shopfront improvements – Wayfinding (link to Brick Lane) • Branding Study for Petticoat Lane (‘18) • Market layout redesign (March–Oct ‘19) • CofL secured £1M + bid to Good Growth • Councl bid to Historic England Heritage Action Zone Fund for Wentworth Street • Recruiting local ladies as potential market traders. (17 completed food hygiene training in July 2019). • Launch section of Petticoat Lane market for ladies in autumn 2019 Middlesex Street Regeneration programme…

• Developing plans to activate Leyden Street toilet block (closed 12 years) • Feasibility study to be completed by October ‘19 • Some vacant shop units focused around Leyden Streets • Consultation with potential tenants • Include on street toilet for market traders. Roman Road West Regeneration Programme • Developing detailed Public Realm design (by autumn ‘19) • Developing proposals to convert up to 37 lock-ups to workspace (50% vacant) • 11 businesses want planters outside shop • Community gardening Above – workshops to inform regeneration project to care for programme planters • 12 long-term vacant shop units struggling to get tenants • ASB issues behind square • Re-used fabric shopping bags made by local sewing groups Roman Road West Regeneration Programme……

Above and top centre - 36 lock-up units Lock Ups, Windsor House located under Bevin and Windsor House. Above and below – Shop units on RR Below – Only 3 traders on Roman Road with graffiti on solid metal shutters Square, an underused public space.

Lock Up Options (Landolt + Brown) Roman Road West Regeneration Programme……

• Reopen pedestrian access route from Queen Mary University London (QMUL) campus via Meath Gardens • Progressing to agreement with Network Rail re access Railway Arch Entrance, Meath Gardens Section showing engineering proposal route • 10-15K staff & students on QMUL campus. • Over 317 responses from QMUL supporting access route to high street (pie charts)

Survey responses Site visits for Scrutiny sub-committee members and next steps

Activities taking place in September and October 2019: • Site visits to meet market traders and high street businesses (dates to be agreed with Members when they are available) • Consultation on Public realm design, proposal for lock-ups into workspace and shopfront improvement plans for Roman Road West (Sept ‘19) • Consultation with Market Traders and high street businesses re Middlesex Street market layout redesign (date in Sept ‘19) • Sewing groups meeting to make shopping bags (regular events) • Sewing groups meeting in Middlesex Street to make bunting for Petticoat Lane Market (by end September ‘19) • 3rd business advice workshop for ladies as market traders (18 th Sept ‘19) • Soft launch of products for Petticoat Lane Market (test and taste products) • Launch section of Petticoat Lane Market with 14+ ladies (date in Oct ‘19) • Workshops and consultation activities on redesigning Brick Lane Arch (dates in late September and October)