A partnership which was scrapped following the shake-up of local government in Shropshire could soon be relaunched under new plans to promote business and tourism in Shrewsbury.

Destination Shrewsbury, the former borough council’s tourism arm, folded when the authority was wound up last year. But Shrewsbury Town Council has now unveiled plans to boost economic development in the town.

The proposals include the appointment of a new publicity and marketing officer, a special economic development committee and a Destination Shrewsbury body made up of representatives from local government and businesses.

Councillor Peter Nutting said: “The town council is working together with Shrewsbury Chamber of Commerce, Shop in the Loop and Shrewsbury Tourism to try to get Destination Shrewsbury back up and running with the intention of promoting Shrewsbury for tourism and economic development.

“I am very excited about this and we hope to have it in place within a couple of weeks,” he added.

“We are trying to bring people and businesses to the town and we are very excited about the link with Wrexham & Shropshire railway which is doing really good promotions for the town as well.

“The partnership will have a wide remit to cover a range of issues.”

One of the key objectives of the new partnership is to develop a long-term strategy which will include a number of targets.

They include aims to create a “stronger and more diverse” retail and leisure offer to prevent people shopping out of town; maintaining a strong representation of independent traders in the town and exploring new opportunities to enhance the town’s appeal to tourists.

Leaders also want to develop a “high quality” transport infrastructure which encourages sustainable travel to and from the town as well as within it, and plans to increase employment within the river loop.

A report by town clerk Helen Ball, ahead of next week’s meeting, says some councillors have also expressed interest in creating a special economic development committee.

She says that in order to set the group up, the council has to meet a number of criteria.

The report says areas that the committee could cover within its remit include the market rights, Shrewsbury’s Growth Point status, promotion of events on public land and In Bloom activities.