Ms Giulia Vallone:

I said earlier that it is great to have funding but sometimes low-level funding in a large area almost results in more clutter. More auditing is required. There is an opportunity to ask all the members what is meant by a town centre. It means something different in each local authority because it relates to the local area plan. Why do we not consider architectural conservation areas, identifying the solid cores of town centres and delineating them through strong visual and material differences, almost by creating a threshold? In Italy, you know immediately when you are in the town centre because there are paving stones and beautiful lights. Why do we not try to start small? Rather than spreading funds, let us concentrate on small areas and see what happens in terms of proper design standards and design codes.

It is a matter of public participation and educational and visual-awareness programmes. We should work with schools, starting with the children, to develop visual awareness regarding what constitutes a townscape, town centre and heritage. This, together with educating chambers, councillors and Tidy Towns representatives, would be a great asset for local authorities.