Shropshire towns miss out on Portas Pilot bids
The first batch of Portas Pilot Towns was revealed today with no Shropshire towns making the list.
Earlier this year Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Newport, Whitchurch and Market Drayton, all bid along with 370 other towns to receive support from the retail guru Mary Portas.
Local Government Minister Grant Shapps announced the winning bids today, and praised the exceptional quality of the bids, which will each receive a slice of £1.2 million and a tailored package of support from both the Minister and retail guru Mary Portas.
From Stockport to Margate, successful pilots will now be helped to implement their ideas to rejuvenate the town centre, as well as test out the measures in Mary Portas's High Street Review.
The twelve successful towns are: Bedford, Croydon, Dartford, Bedminster, Liskeard, Margate, Market Rasen, Nelson, Newbiggin by the Sea, Stockport, Stockton on Tees and Wolverhampton.
The quality of the bids has been so high that a second round of the competition has been launched, which will see 15 additional pilots announced by the end of July. Towns that have already submitted a bid do not need to apply again, although they can sharpen up their bid.
