Barnsley: The 'Tuscany vision' town that has become a blueprint for high street regeneration
There it was in black and white. “Mamma Mia, whatever’s happening to Barnsley?” was the headline of the Guardian article back in 2002. “The gritty town which gave the world Michael Parkinson, the umpire Dicky Bird and many billion tonnes of coal is to reinvent itself – as an Italian hill village,” the article read.
With the timing of the publication, many thought it was an April Fool’s prank. Actually, recalls Barnsley Council leader Sir Stephen Houghton, the notion had come from architect Will Alsop, who had designed a masterplan for the town centre’s regeneration. Turning it into an Italian hill village wasn’t quite what he had meant, however.
“What he said was if you’re talking about your town centre, you’ve got to define it because town centres and city centres sprawl out,” Coun Houghton recalls. “So, if you’re doing a town centre regeneration, what is that town centre area you are going to regenerate? Focus your attention on that and don’t spread it out too thin.
“And also, give your town centre a sense of arrival and departure. So you know when you’re here and you know when you’re leaving. So it’s clearly defined.
“When he said that people said well what do you mean? And he said well have you ever been to Tuscany? Because in Tuscany the towns there are hill towns, they’ve got a wall around them and you know when you arrive and depart. That’s all that ever was said.”
Barnsley wasn’t suddenly to become an Italian idyll. But “look at us today”, Coun Houghton says. “We might not be a Tuscan hill town but we have a really successful town centre.”
It’s true that Barnsley is often held up as a blueprint of success for town centre regeneration.
The authority reports that it attracted a footfall of more than nine million in 2024-25. Pre-Covid, it was around half that number. So what’s been the strategy?
One of the first tasks was an economic analysis of the town, looking at how much disposable income there was in Barnsley and how much was actually being spent in the town.
“What we found was 40 per cent of all disposable income in Barnsley was going outside Barnsley,” Coun Houghton says. “We knew then that we could develop something and expand our offer because the money was there and if the town centre was attractive enough, we could pull it back in.”
The focus ever since has been on driving footfall.
Existing services moved into the centre – a new sixth form college, which brings in a student population of young people through the week, a central library and a health diagnostics facility. New provisions were also established to attract people in – a cinema, bowling alley, restaurants and bars.
“What businesses need is footfall,” Coun Houghton says. “My job’s to get them here. Your job’s to sell them something, so to speak.”
When it came to the retail offering, a mix of big high street names and independent shops and traders was the aim, with a central market and food vendors.
“The market is a massive driver of footfall because it’s value shopping which a lot of our residents want. It’s attractive in itself. It’s a good experience. People like to walk around the market, see it, do it, experience it.”
Consultation with residents led to fountains being installed after requests for a water feature, and people were also keen on a centrepiece public square where events and activities can take place.
“We keep reimagining the town centre with different events throughout the year. So if you’ve been once, why would I come back? Well, there’s a good retail offer. There’s all this other stuff, but actually there’s Barnsley Live, Christmas, Bright Nights, family events as well. We’re constantly animating the town square to pull people in.”
Design, he says, was also key, helping to circulate footfall amongst businesses and the town’s variety of offerings. Even now, more is being developed, with Coun Houghton acknowledging that Barnsley can’t stand still.
“The centre was in decline. It was on its knees and really struggling,” he says. “We couldn’t sit there, we had to do something. And obviously, the rest is history… I’m really proud of what the council and its partners and businesses working together have achieved for the town. Now we’re looking forward to what is next. How do we make this bigger and better?… The danger is if we just sit here and say this is great, then in five or ten years’ time, others will have caught us up.”
A new youth zone, Base71, has recently opened in the town centre, with a neighbouring activity park featuring a bike track and parkour area also in development. Then, there’s the trailblazing Health on the High Street hub in the Alhambra Shopping Centre.
“We’re taking the vast majority of outpatient appointments from the hospital and bringing them into Health on the High Street… We’ll be adding to that community health services, mental health services, and a health and wellbeing hub for pre and post-operative care. Adult social care will be in there, public health will be in there.”
Barnsley has also recently been named the UK’s first Tech Town – with local schools and colleges, businesses, and the NHS due to receive government support to “unleash the opportunities of AI”.
The Seam campus is under development in the town centre as a place for digital and creative business, with phase one due for completion soon. It will see a new urban park and natural gardens as well as Yorkshire Rose sculptures with sound and light shows.
All the while, footfall and spend levels in the town centre continue to be measured. “You’re managing the town like any other business to keep it alive,” Coun Houghton says. “We know now we’re bringing (Barnsley) people back from other places and spending here and we know people are coming in from outside Barnsley and spending in Barnsley as well.”