Digimap for Schools Lesson Activity

A sample of the 36 activities I produced for use with Digimap for Schools: get them all here http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk/resources.html

Transcript

1. by Alan Parkinson Geography Resources Key Stage 3 6KRS WLO\RXGURS
2. About Digimap for Schools Digimap for Schools is an online mapping service for use by teachers and pupils providing easy access to a range of current Ordnance Survey maps including the most detailed mapping available for Great Britain, OS MasterMap, as well as digital versions of Ordnance Survey's famous paper maps, the Landranger and Explorer series. Also included are street level maps showing street names and road-atlas style maps. Maps can be printed as PDF files at A3 or A4 size with an individual's own map title and name included with the scale bar and school name and address. Search tools include postcode, place name or national grid reference and maps can be moved to centre on any chosen location within Great Britain. Map keys are available for each scale map to explain the symbols used within the map. Maps can be annotated with symbols, lines, areas, text and can be saved to be reused during another session. Digimap for Schools is a subscription service. Schools purchase a subscription for 12 months access to the service. Details on subscriptions can be found at http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk/subscribe.html. Terms of use of the service can be found at http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk/termsofuse.pdf. For further information or to give feedback on our resources, contact the EDINA Help Desk on 0131 650 3302 (Mon- Fri 9-5) or email edina@ed.ac.uk. About the Author: Alan Parkinson Alan worked for the Geographical Association as Secondary Curriculum Development Leader between 2008 and 2011, after teaching for over twenty years in Norfolk and Derbyshire. He developed the popular GeographyPages website in 2001 and created a series of networks to support colleagues through curriculum change. He is a prolific blogger. He has received several Innovative Geography teaching grants, and received the Ordnance Survey Award for "excellence in secondary geography teaching" from the RGS-IBG in 2008. He is currently a freelance author and geographer, working on a wide range of National and European projects. © EDINA at the University of Edinburgh 2012 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
3. Digimap for Schools Geography Resources Ref No: 11 Title of Activity: Shop ‘til you drop Level / Key Stage: 3 Context: Retailing / Urban Land Use This activity would include fieldwork to bring the best results, but would also be possible using images of shop frontages sourced separately in advance of the lesson, or the use of additional maps such as Goad Plans. Location within GB: Adaptable to any local town or city centre Example included is of Rotherham Town Centre, in South Yorkshire Knowledge / Skills: Land Use Mapping / Adding polygons using annotation tools / Adding labels using labeling tool / Measuring areas / Creating and printing maps Link to Curriculum: Urban Land Use / Retailing / Regeneration Note to Teacher The amount of independent work students are able to manage will depend on their familiarity with the software and experience of using maps in general. The step by step tasks are not meant to be read alone by students but as a guide for you the teacher to demonstrate with the whole class and / or direct individuals as appropriate. Each activity has several ideas within it that you can tailor and adapt to suit your class and pupils. The aim of the pack is to: • Support you in developing the use of Digimap for Schools in the classroom across the secondary age range • Develop the skills of your students in the use of the full suite of tools that is currently available • Suggest some ideas for developing mapping across the curriculum • Save you time and provide inspiration! The contexts for the learning include both ‘physical’ and ‘human’ geography, and will explore different scales of mapping from the school grounds to locations in England, Scotland and Wales.
4. Digimap for Schools Geography Resources Activity Exploring a local High Street to quantify vacant shop premises, and see how it could be improved to compete with other local retailing opportunities and increase footfall. It could also act as a supporting activity for a possible local fieldwork opportunity. Introduction In December 2011, the Portas Review was published. The report by retail expert Mary Portas explored the future of our High Streets and concluded that town centres as we know them will cease to exist, because the way we shop has changed forever. The main ‘threats’ to the town centre come from online retailing, out of town shopping malls and retail parks, and the current recession reducing people’s disposable income. Reduced spending on the High Street has already contributed to the loss of familiar names such as Woolworth’s. High Streets are the hearts of towns and communities, and have been for centuries. However, they need to be supported if they are to thrive and become ‘vital and viable’. They are facing an unprecedented threat from lifestyle changes and the availability of alternative shopping opportunities which are more ‘convenient’ for consumers. Digimap for Schools offers access to the mapping that is used by people making decisions about the future of our town centres. Many settlements have specific teams of people to manage these areas, something which would not have been the case in the past. A search of any local newspaper will reveal stories of shops that have been in the town for generations that are closing the doors for the last time. This activity offers the chance to ‘map’ these changes. One of the issues with vacant shops is the impact that they have on shoppers’ perceptions of the overall health of the town centre. Image: Alan Parkinson
5. Main Activity This activity involves using the annotation tools to identify the pattern of empty shops in a section of your town centre to be decided based on your local knowledge, or designated by the teacher. Images that have been provided in advance of the activity may also be useful here. Students could be given Ordnance Survey MasterMap™ level recording sheets for use on a field trip to the local CBD, or alternatively be provided with the data in a different format. Google Street View™ could also be used to access those streets that have not been pedestrianised. If fieldwork is carried out, the Digimap for Schools Vacant Shop ID Sheet included in the pack could be used to identify vacant shops. Tasks 1. Login to Digimap 2. Zoom to your local town centre using the SEARCH function or another method 3. Centre a map at an appropriate scale which features a main shopping street or the central part of the CBD (Central Business District) 4. Open the Annotation tools 5. Identify vacant shops using one of the suggested methods: fieldwork, images, Google Street View™ or data from a vacancy survey 6. Draw a polygon around the vacant shop premises that you have identified in your part of the town or city centre. Polygons are drawn by choosing the appropriate shape from the key. Choose to draw a shape with STRAIGHT SIDES
6. Click on the map to start drawing each ‘side’ of the polygon and double click back at the starting point to finish. If you make a mistake you can delete the shape and start again. Finished polygons can also be moved into a new position. These last two actions are selected from the MODIFY section of the toolbar. 7. Polygons can be shaded appropriately using the FILL OPTIONS: either all in the same colour, or different colours depending on their former use. This latter choice would help students develop a sense of the type of businesses that are having more difficulty staying open. Polygons should be made 50% TRANSPARENT to enable accurate positioning. 8. Using the measuring tool, you can work out the total area of each vacant shop.
7. Click on an existing shape and a label will be added which shows the area of the shape in metres squared. This label can be deleted if it is not required on the finished map, once the figure has been recorded for the final report. 9. Use the map that you have created to produce a brief written report on the ‘state of health’ of your particular part of the town centre using the student sheet that is provided. 10. If necessary, print out several sections of map and produce a ‘mosaic’ of the CBD, with each individual student, or group, providing a section which is then assembled. This could produce a useful wall display, with ongoing changes being added as post-its over the course of the next few months. Students could be awarded merits or similar rewards for identifying a change in the CBD such as a new shop, or a planned event which might draw shoppers into the town centre. 11. Maps can be saved to a suitable folder. This will enable them to be edited to take account of further changes that might take place within the town centre. Located case study: Rotherham Town Centre Rotherham was brought into the public gaze in 2008 when Jamie Oliver chose the town to do his work on raising the quality of food that local people were eating and made a TV series. It became memorable after a local mum started passing chips and other food through the railings to students who didn’t want to eat the healthy meals. It was also one of the towns that Mary Portas visited, in September 2011 during her review of town centres: http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/90790/queen-of-shops- delivers-blueprint-for-future-of-high-streets-like-rotherham-s.aspx Rotherham and Bradford are the towns in Yorkshire with the largest percentage of empty shops. The local paper: the Rotherham Advertiser http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/ ran a poll of shoppers asking them about the proposals that might boost the town centre and came up with the results that the majority of shoppers wanted free parking and action on empty shops. Source: Rotherham Advertiser
8. You could also use the activity to explore some of the other trends that were identified in the Portas Review. See later for details of how to obtain a copy. Supporting Documents Rotherham Town Centre – map of study area (PDF) Rotherham Town Centre Information sheet (PDF) Rotherham Town Centre Investors Guide (PDF) – developed for the Rotherham Renaissance project Town Centre Health Check document (PDF) Digimap for Schools Vacant Shop ID Sheet (PDF) Taking it further: 1. You could extend the activity to take in other elements of land use mapping, such as an exploration of shop-clustering by type. Some shops, such as shoe shops, are often found in particular clusters in areas of the high street. 2. Digimap for Schools’s polygons could also be used to identify particular types of shops. The review suggests that many High Streets have changed to be dominated by take-aways and ‘pound-shops’ – is that the case in your local town centre ? Produce a more detailed land-use survey of your town centre. 3. Keep track of the changes that occur in your town centre over a number of months, or even years. Students can then have access to a useful archive showing changes in your local area over a period of time. This would work just as well with a local parade of shops or a neighbourhood shopping area as it would for the CBD. 4. If retail analysts are correct, there will be several other High Street chains which may disappear during 2012 and beyond. Contact the local town centre manager (if they exist) or Chamber of trade, and identify the steps they are taking to ensure that shops are supported at this difficult time. 5. Goad Plans are detailed maps of town and city centres which provide information on the businesses which occupy premises. Goad Plans are available for over 3000 town centre shopping areas. They give a bird’s eye view of the retail centre showing name, category, floor space and location of all retail outlets and vacant premises. They are also available as historic plans going back to the 1960s. Further details on Goad Plans are here: http://www.experian.co.uk/goad/goad-plans.html 6. One of the main competitors of town centres like Rotherham are out-of-town shopping malls. In the case of Rotherham, this is Meadowhall. This activity from the Ordnance Survey Blog in January 2012 asks you to identify shopping centres with all the labels removed from the map: http://blog.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/2012/01/mapping-the-route-to-christmas- shopping/ How many do you know ? How many have you visited ?
9. Weblinks: The full Portas Review, and a summary version can be downloaded from: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-sectors/docs/p/11-1434-portas-review- future-of-high-streets.pdf (PDF download for 1.9 Mb) Further advice on exploring urban areas is available from the Royal Geographical Society: http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Schools/Fieldwork+and+local+learning/Fieldwork+topics+and +themes/Human+geography/Urban+studies.htm A set of images of all the businesses in the town of Hunstanton can be seen in this photo set online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/geographypages/sets/72157607290265271/
10. Rotherham Town Centre Information Sheet This is an area that is undergoing some challenging times, and has done since the opening of the Meadowhall Shopping Centre in 1990, which was blamed for the closure of several local shops, with several others relocating their branch from the town centre. Information on Meadowhall: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meadowhall_Centre The local paper is called the Rotherham Advertiser The newspaper website can be searched for relevant stories: http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/ There is an organization that is involved in raising the profile of Rotherham for local businesses, and helps them to find new premises. This is called RIDO – Rotherham Investment and Development Office and its website is here: http://www.rido.org.uk/ It is involved with a project aimed at transforming the town centre, which is called Rotherham Renaissance: http://www.rido.org.uk/major-developments/rotherham- renaissance Additional links and resources The Geographical Association has produced several resources which relate to this area which you might want to explore in addition to the ones that have been provided. http://geography.org.uk/projects/livinggeography/rotherham/#top – details of various Living Geography projects which include the Rotherham Renaissance project http://geography.org.uk/projects/livinggeography/rotherham/locatinganewstadium - locating a new stadium for Rotherham United http://geography.org.uk/projects/livinggeography/rotherham/waterfrontplanningexercise - planning exercise for the Dearne Valley
11. Shop ‘til you Drop Activity Sheet Town: Street / Area selected: VACANT SHOP ID Shop Name - Previous Use Shop Type Location (GR)
12. Town Centre ‘Health Check’ Town / City: Area surveyed: (inc Grid Reference) Number of vacant premises and general description: Area of vacant shops (m2 ): Suggestions for improving this area and attracting new tenants:
13. Howard Street 29.9m C ollege Lane Pond COLLEGE STREET College Street 24.7m BRIDGEGATE ROTHERHAM 26.2m Church Street Bridgegate Market Street Upper Millgate Square All Saints' ward Street 28.7m HIGH STREET Vicarage Lane Effingham Street EASTW O O D LANE 32.7m HOWARD STREET Car Park CORPORATION STREET DONCASTER GATE 1 Guyscliff 28 LB TCB TCB Fn 38 Bank 13 Bank 1a 13 3 34 40 20 10 (All Saints') 15 11 12 3a 2 32 30 14 Bank 1 14 2 to 6 ta 13 16 36 14 Sub Sta 6 31 27 Imperial ts PTP TCB Foot Bridge 36 34 Technology College of 5 7 29 Floreat H ouse 15 to 21 33 Club El 12 4 to 7 17 Market Hall 3 3 15 1 Charter Arm s (PH) 18 10 17 12 1 30 26 Red Lion 2 34 36 1 Bank 45 (PH) 15 32 31 to 37 5 to 9 Hotel 22 to 28 27 PO Bank PCs Rotherham Minster White Hart Buildings 24 22 10 to 14 1 5 PH 4 6 8 2 1 Bank 2 b 30 2a 3 28 2 6 1a 10 Technology 1 27 College of 33 13 23 15 PH 9 El 9a 31 16 to 20 Bank 4 12 15 Sub 13 29 24 9 26 4 15 7 Sta 14a 33 17 23 28 32 29 Bank 27 14 30 21 25 31 19 18 19 HENRY 5 24 4 18 PH Chambers 16 10 26 10 9 Equity 3 PH 00m 28 44 29 00m 30 44 44 2800m 29 44 3000m 00m 29 39 00m 30 39 39 2900m 39 3000m Alan Parkinson Dec 15, 2011 13:54 Scale 1:1250 Rotherham Town Centre 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 m Digimap for Schools © Crown copyright/database right 2011. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. FOR SCHOOL USE ONLY.
14. WELCOME WELCOME ‘‘ ’’ Renaissance is generating £2bn of investment ‘‘ ’’ Joint economy is growing faster than either Leeds or Manchester Welcome to Rotherham Rotherham’s economy is storming ahead and a major driver is the ambitious Rotherham Renaissance programme. It’s forecast to attract £2bn of mostly private investment into the borough over the next 20 years, but what is certain now is that it is already creating attractive opportunities for businesses. Yorkshire Forward launched its regional Renaissance Towns Programme in 2001, a leading initiative that is delivering the national agenda for communities that are more successful in terms of their economy and quality of life. Its aim is to ensure that the region’s towns are places where people want to invest, work and live. Rotherham is already five years into its programme, the most ambitious of the Renaissance projects to date, measured by investment. South Yorkshire is changing and regenerating for the better, including the transformation of our neighbouring city, Sheffield. However, what most people don’t know is that the combined Rotherham and Sheffield economy is growing faster than either Leeds or Manchester (source: University of Birmingham) – the combined economies are also worth more than the turnover of Gucci, Amazon and Starbucks. Statistics for South Yorkshire Population 1,266,337 people Average weekly wage £414 Regional gross value added per head £11,692 Area of 1,559sq m
15. Number of VAT registered businesses by sector, in Rotherham at year end 2005 WELCOME How to find us By Road Rotherham is centrally located on the M1, M18 and A1 providing excellent road links By Rail Rotherham Station is linked to Sheffield and Doncaster stations which connect to towns and cities all over the UK By Air Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield – 25 mins East Midlands Airport – 45 mins Leeds Bradford Airport – 50 mins Manchester Airport – 90 mins Agriculture 3.0% Mining/Utilities 0.1% Construction 14.5% Wholesale/Retail 25.7% Hotel/ Restaurants 7.9% Transport/ Communications 7.8% Finance 0.5% Real estate/ other business 20.8% Education/Health 1.5% Manufacturing 12.6% • Rotherham is in the heart of the UK and neighbours the 5th most successful city in the UK, Sheffield • Rotherham is centrally located on the M1, M18 and A1 providing excellent road links – within anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours you can be in Sheffield, Leeds, London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester • There are 2 million consumers within half an hour’s driving time • Five international airports are within a 90 minutes’ drive – including the new Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield on the borough’s doorstep. Offering you access to 40+ European cities and 370 million potential customers in less than 3 hours • Rotherham Railway Station is linked to Sheffield and Doncaster stations which connect to towns and cities all over the UK. Under Renaissance, there are further plans for a £2.5m new station to replace the existing one and efforts are being made to lengthen the platforms to enable the faster main line trains to stop at Rotherham • More than 5,000 companies operate in the borough, of which 90 are from overseas • Two well-established Sheffield universities and a further two higher education colleges situated in Rotherham itself – providing a wide pool of highly-skilled workers and research base Public admin/ Other services 5.6%
16. LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE Lifestyle and Culture Rotherham’s population of over 250,000 covers a wide cultural, ethnic and demographic spread. House prices are 61% of the national average – in the past few years, unlike the rest of the country, house prices have not risen beyond the reach of first-time buyers, so the area is becoming an increasingly popular place for people to buy property, both commercial and residential. Heritage • One of the finest medieval churches in the country, All Saints’ Minster, dominates the pedestrianised shopping square in the centre of town • One of three surviving medieval bridge chapels in England sits at one of the main gateways into town • Clifton Park sits at the edge of the town centre, offering picturesque green spaces, and hosts the largest, free, annual show in the north of England • Clifton Park Museum and Roche Abbey attract people from far and wide to learn more about the area and its heritage LIFESTYLE ‘‘ ’’ House prices are 61% of the national average ‘‘ ’’ Close to Clifton Park and Rother Valley Country Park
17. LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE Sport and other attractions • An ambitious Private Finance Initiative scheme – believed to be the largest in the country – is replacing 12 small swimming pools with four larger leisure complexes. St Ann’s, in the town centre, is due to open November 2008 and is costing £11m; all the others are expected to be open by 2009 • Professional local football and rugby teams help generate entertainment and pride for the borough • Live town-centre gatherings facilitated by the BBC Big Screen events (Rotherham’s is the only Big Screen not located in a city) • Rother Valley Country Park offers water-sports, golf and cycle hire and is a popular tourist attraction, as is the Rotherham walking festival, plus two further country parks in the borough – you are also just a short drive from the world famous Peak District National Park • MAGNA – the UK’s first science adventure centre is a popular attraction for schools and tourists and an awesome conference and event venue Culture and Arts The Forge Island site in the centre of Rotherham is the main focus for a new Cultural Quarter. Proposals for the new Quarter could see the development of a new theatre, museum and library. Plans for a cinema and more bars and restaurants are also proposed. ‘‘ ’’ St Ann’s leisure complex – a new £11m facility in Rotherham ‘‘ ’’ Big screen events live in the town centre ‘‘ ’’ MAGNA science adventure centre close by
18. RETAIL Retail Rotherham is a thriving, business-friendly borough at the heart of the UK. Its economy is bustling with activity – companies are finding the success they seek, land is being developed, office, commercial and retail space is being created and, at the opposite end of the scale, entrepreneurs are launching their own businesses. And it’s not all down to the superb transport links or the fact that business costs are lower in this 110-sq mile (185 sq km) South Yorkshire borough, though such factors help. Office space ranges from £12-£16 per sq ft to lease, or £140-£160 to buy freehold, with managed office space about £20 per sq ft to rent. Retail starts at about £12 per sq ft to lease. It’s also as much to do with the strong support offered to business by a wide range of partners, from the Metropolitan Borough Council to the Chamber of Commerce. The centre of Rotherham town itself offers a host of business opportunities – and it’s getting even better, with a massive regeneration programme well under way, creating new commercial, retail, residential and public spaces. RETAIL ‘‘ ’’ Due to its central location in a thriving area, our branch really benefits from having a presence here in Rotherham. Regular town centre events bring the place to life and, through the Renaissance programme, Rotherham offers exciting prospects for existing and potential retailers. Tracy Rabbitt, Assistant Store Manager, Woolworths
19. RETAIL RETAIL The centre has a large population of office employees. Nearly 2,500 people are employed in the council’s central offices alone, and a strong customer base is also provided by local solicitors and other businesses within the professional sector. The centre offers: • More than 55,000 sq m (over 600,000 sq ft) of commercial floor space, housing over 300 national and independent retailers • 56 different bus routes, with over 1,600 departures a day, bringing in thousands of people to town • More than 12,000 people a day passing through the interlinked bus station, car park, taxi rank and shopping mall • A full and part-time college student population of nearly 11,000, who use it in their free periods and lunch breaks • A wide selection of restaurants, cafés and bars, as well as a theatre and live music venues, making it a great choice for an evening out • A vibrant indoor and outdoor market, attracting an 80,000-plus footfall every week and trading Monday to Saturday, complemented by specialist farmers’ and continental markets • Regular town-centre events such as street entertainment, live opera and ballet shows on the Big Screen, raising the footfall • And, just a couple of minutes’ drive away, Parkgate Shopping, one of the largest and leading retail parks in the UK – a comprehensive shopping complex offering a wide range of major stores in most retail sectors and currently consisting of more than 52,200 sq m (over 550,000 sq ft) of retail floor space. The town centre benefits from being mostly pedestrianised, and offers competitive costs for car parking in comparison to neighbouring towns. There are plenty of opportunities for specialist, independent niche traders to do well in affordable and attractive units. Our primary shopping streets have a foot flow ranging from 2.4m to 8.5m per year. New high-quality apartments being built above shops, and sold, in the town centre are already bringing in a new clientele – young executives looking for that different shopping experience that can be provided on their doorsteps. Future retail developments on several sites earmarked in the town centre offers huge potential for expanding the range of shopping in Rotherham. A new cultural quarter proposed for Rotherham town centre will see a new and larger theatre and art gallery arrive, with plans for a cinema as well. A programme of events running throughout the year is strongly promoted to increase footfall and spend. Popular events include Rotherham by the Sea, Christmas Markets, street entertainment and the BBC Big Screen. For a touch of tranquillity, a few minutes’ walk takes you to the award-winning Clifton Park, which has just been granted over £8m for regeneration. This attracts people from towns across the region. Rotherham also has safety high on its agenda and has recently acquired a dedicated town centre policing team with neighbourhood wardens and a Town Centre Safety Manager who operates a Business Against Crime Partnership and town centre radio links scheme.
20. HELPING YOU DO BUSINESS ‘‘ ’’ ‘‘ ’’ ‘‘ ’’ The Advanced Manufacturing Park has proved a great location for the AMRC. We’ve been able to create sustainable jobs, wealth and opportunities for Yorkshire and Humber-based companies by working alongside our partners, Rolls-Royce, Boeing and Messier-Dowty. Professor Keith Ridgway, Research Director, Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing We're a busy law firm of about 20 people, including four partners, and have operated from the town centre for many years. It’s an excellent central location for us, and we certainly wouldn't have stayed here had it not suited us, as a business, and our clients. Duncan Lennox, partner, Harthills Solicitors We’ve had great advice from RiDO, they’ve helped us recruit five new members of staff so far and are always on hand to give advice and tips about the business. And Moorgate Crofts has been a really good venue for us – it’s given us the opportunity to grow without adding in the costs that that would otherwise incur. Tom Packer, MarkCo Media’s head of web development Helping you do business Don’t just take our word for it that Rotherham is an excellent place for business. According to a recent survey in The Star Business Monthly regional magazine, more than 100 companies voted the borough the ideal business location. With a £2bn Renaissance programme already under way, a range of attractive riverside office and commercial units in the town centre are coming on to the market for lease at very affordable rates. Worried about finding the right staff? We can help with that too. The borough has a skilled and experienced workforce already trained in areas such as sales, customer services and IT support. And helping you do business: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council • Provides experts to help you with planning, transportation, land development, recruitment and business development: www.rotherham.gov.uk tel: +44 (0)1709 382121 Town Centre Management • Communicates to town centre businesses via meetings, face to face business visits and regular newsletters • Co-ordinates town centre safety initiatives (such as the successful radio link scheme) • Provides a free property search and support to you while finding your ideal retail unit • Develops a strategy to strengthen the retail offer • Monitors, researches and evaluates town centre performance • Targets relevant retail and property events, conferences and the media to ensure Rotherham has a presence • Raises your business profile by helping you with marketing and PR activity including a shopping voucher initiative on the dedicated website for shoppers www.rotherhamtowntalk.co.uk tel: +44 (0)1709 336854 SUPPORT
21. HELPING YOU DO BUSINESS RiDO (Rotherham Investment & Development Office, the council’s regeneration arm) • Saves you time and money by helping you find the right sites and premises for your business, thanks to its comprehensive property database and expert knowledge • Provides highly professional, but free, support, advice and guidance • Has a dedicated and committed enterprise team that encourages and supports you if you’re thinking of setting up your own business • Helps you with finding and training recruits • Helps you locate new customers and suppliers www.rido.org.uk tel: +44 (0)1709 372099 Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce • Ensures active representation at a local, regional and national level and also overseas communication channels to members • Offers specialist training courses and workshops on areas such as book keeping, marketing, sales, insurance and more • Signposts you, via Business Link, to accountants, solicitors, insurance brokers and business consultants • Has an enterprise team to help and support you start up a new business www.brchamber.co.uk tel: +44 (0)1709 386200 Business Link • Helps you identify your business needs and will source the right support, with the right providers, to address those needs www.businesslink.gov.uk tel: +44 (0)845 6009006 Yorkshire Forward • Is not only a key partner in Rotherham’s regeneration programme, but is also working with regional partners to improve access to venture capital finance for start ups and growing businesses www.yorkshire-forward.com tel: +44 (0)113 394 9600 Business Rate Relief • Properties with a rateable value up to £15,000, and operating from one main premises, could be eligible to claim rate relief on their non-domestic rates bill nndr@rotherham.gov.uk tel: +44 (0)1709 823579 SUPPORT
22. LOOKING AHEAD Looking ahead Projects already under way… Increased space for retail Retail is very much at the heart of Rotherham’s Renaissance. The Westgate Project will provide up to 11,483 sq ft (1,067 sq m) of quality units for national and independent retailers and other businesses and will come on-stream from 2008. Living in the town centre This revitalisation of the town centre will include the construction of more than 150 new homes within the mixed-use project, the first of which will be ready for people to move into by 2008. Better leisure facilities The £11m St Ann’s leisure complex will include pools, indoor climbing tower, squash courts, fitness suite and dance studio. It will be open in November 2008. Better health services Construction work on a new health centre for Rotherham is well under way. One feature of the development will be a seven-day-a-week walk-in service for the treatment of minor illness and injury, outside normal GP surgery hours. The centre is due to open in November 2008. Better public space A Public Realm Strategy, which includes the new design of the town-centre streets, seating, lighting and overall environment, is being prepared by urban designers Gillespies. After extensive public consultation, it aims to be published in early 2008. £350m YES! Project Located on a 327-acre ex-coalfield site adjoining Rother Valley Country Park in Rotherham, this project aims to develop a state-of-the-art leisure and entertainment resort – the biggest of its kind in Europe. LOOKING AHEAD ‘‘ ’’ More new homes in the town centre ‘‘ ’’ A wealth of redevelopment providing new business facilities and office space ‘‘ ’’ The Westgate project will provide 11,483 sq ft of space for retail and business ‘‘ ’’ New health centre including walk-in service – open 7 days a week
23. LOOKING AHEAD Waterfront A £130m scheme by developer TCN UK. The project, at Manvers, will regenerate 285-acres (115 ha) into a mixed-use development, to include a business park, residential, retail and leisure facilities. Brookfields Park Brookfields Park is one of the country’s largest investment projects at an estimated £250m, and involves transforming the 85-acre (34 ha) former coalfield site at Manvers to create a combination of office, distribution and industrial space. Guest & Chrimes The historical Guest & Chrimes site by the River Don in the town centre is one of the key areas for development for Rotherham Renaissance. The focus will be on visionary architecture, with the possibility of housing, office and commercial developments and bridges across the Don to Westgate. The Townscape Heritage Initiative The Townscape Heritage Initiative is a Heritage Lottery-Fund (HLF) scheme aimed at restoring under-used historic buildings and bringing them into economically viable use. The £3.5m scheme focuses on key buildings around the Minster and High Street and began in November 2007. It promises to: • Provide grant funding to eligible property owners for the repair and restoration of specific building frontages, including new shop fronts and traditional sash windows • Make £1.4m worth of improvements to the public space in the High Street and Minster Yard • Target specific listed buildings at risk • Deliver sustainable conservation in the town centre by raising the standard of repair and by bringing new uses and new life back into the High Street area This is all aimed at making the town centre a better place for retail and other businesses. LOOKING AHEAD ‘‘ ’’ We are very excited at the prospect of investing in excess of £100 million to regenerate this strategic brownfield site lying at the heart of the Dearne Valley. It will provide much-needed facilities, business units and new housing which in turn will create some 1,500 new jobs. We have been very encouraged by the way the Rotherham team has worked with us so positively to bring this scheme forward. Suzanne Pugh, Director, TCN UK