This June will mark 70 years since Bracknell was designated a New Town. The delivery of the original vision - of a town built to provide full employment with high environmental standards that accommodated the predicted increase in car ownership served the town well for decades and was the source of significant pride. However, the world has changed since 1949.

Now a sense of place is equally about the local retail and leisure offer. Councils are united in facing the current and growing test of a drastically changing British High Street. The evolution of online shopping and increasingly challenging trading conditions for big chains and independent traders alike are blighting towns up and down the country.