Town Centre Strategy and Action Group

1. To work in partnership to formulate an action plan that encourages an attractive, welcoming, and thriving town centre for our businesses, community, and visitors.

Example of an Action: Utilise a grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to appoint an experienced company to link the business community and local authorities strengthening the role that each can play to achieve a thriving town centre.

2. To ensure that the town centre has a welcoming, safe, and attractive physical environment that supports the needs of both businesses and town centre users, enables delivery of a range of events and activities and provides a focus for a healthy and thriving community.

Example of an Action: To encourage and facilitate a range of activities and events to be held in the Town Centre.

3. To improve the commercial viability of the town centre for existing and potential new businesses.

Example of an Action: To bring more leisure and hotel facilities into the town and encourage restaurants to open in the town centre

4. To ensure that town centre accessibility is inclusive, supports all modes of transport and meets the needs of all users.

Example of an Action: Review the disc parking scheme and improve transport links to and from the Town Centre and wider town.

5. To improve interconnectivity between the Town Centre, seafront, riverside and wider Town, making access to business areas and tourist attractions much easier.

Example of an Action: Look to improve the offer of information for visitors to the Town Centre and to attract those using other facilities in the area to visit.

The Town Centre Action Group aims to meet three times a year and is underpinned by a Task Officer Group. The Actions in the strategy will need to be taken forward by all partners. The key partners, stated below, will lead on this work but other important players such as Arun Youth Projects, Health bodies and the Harbour Board etc, will be needed to assist when matters cross refer to their area of expertise.

As well as the Task Officer Group, safety and wellbeing teams have created the Local Action Team. This group focuses on actions based on Anti-social behaviour, crime and community safety, and includes members of the Safer Arun Partnership (SAP). If you would like to know more about the SAP, you can visit their webpage here. If you would like to look at some examples of the Local Action Teams' recent work, please see here. 

The partners of the Town Centre Action Group have various projects currently underway. These get reported back at each TCAG meeting through our 'Action Progress Tables'. 

The Action Progress Tables from the November TCAG meeting are attached here, and the March tables attached here.

Below you will find the date, agenda and unapproved minutes for each of the previous TCAG meetings:

Matthews Associates have been hired through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and are a specialist company that will support the Town Centre Action Group and town businesses. They have a great record of work behind them, including working in retail themselves. The four key objectives they have been assigned to work on are:

1. Develop a sustainable and empowered group of Town Centre Representatives.

2. Engage with freeholders/ landlords to develop strong relationships to facilitate other areas of development in the Town Centre.

3. Support the newly formed Town Centre Action Group to take forward the Town Centre Strategy and Action Plan which aims to coordinate activities to achieve economic growth in the area.

4. By working in collaboration with partners develop a strong destination identity to increase visitors that stay longer, spend more return and recommend. 

In order to develop the objectives, in January 2024 Matthews Associates held a workshop meeting with both Littlehampton Agents and Businesses. If you would like to read the minutes from the Agents workshop they can be found here. Or if you would like to read the minutes from the Businesses workshop, they can be found here.