We have more newsletters. Preston could take some tips from one of its twin cities about how to reinvent its high street in the face of changing shopping habits. That was the verdict of Preston Mayor Neil Darby after a recent visit to Recklinghausen in Germany to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the enduring partnership between the pair.
During a four-day trip to the city, in the north west of the country, delegates from Preston Twinning Partnerships were given a tour of its retail district and heard how local officials had tried to tackle a problem that will be familiar to Prestonians — the sight of empty shops, left deserted by departing stores. They were told that Recklinghausen had stepped in an attempt to ensure that its shopping streets survive and thrive amidst huge shifts in the retail landscape in recent years, which have only been hastened by the pandemic.
Some of those shops were brilliant ideas, so it would be lovely to see something similar in Preston. Amongst the ventures visited by the Preston delegation was a project based on recycling unwanted clothing into baby garments and household items. The two places first joined forces in — the third of what would become four twinning arrangements entered into by Preston — sparked by what were then similar industries and demographics. For many years, soldiers from Preston were also stationed in that part of Germany, helping to build more cordial relations with the UK.
Cllr Darby said that he was struck by the fact that the two cities had developed along such a similar trajectory over such a long period of time — to the extent that they are now facing many of the same modern-day challenges, like filling redundant retail space. He believes that the beauty of twinning relationships lies in both the exchange of ideas that can benefit both places and the forging of friendships that bridge divides of culture and distance.
They were really interested in the work we had done in terms of integration of different communities. You could see some of the things that they had picked up from us 10 or 20 years ago — and, in some ways, they are doing it better than we ever did.
