The Town Centre Public Realm Improvements Consultation has been live for a couple of weeks and closes on October 13.
It has certainly been a talking point on many of the social media pages for Wymondham with plenty of useful feedback as well as some wild conspiracy theories!
As a South Norfolk district councillor and resident of Wymondham I volunteered to be on the working party for the project because I believe that our town deserves this funding boost and I wanted to help shape the final plans to ensure Wymondham has a bright future.
But it has been interesting, to say the least, to read some of the comments, primarily that we already know what we are going to do and filling in the questionnaire is a waste of time.
Categorically that is not true. We desperately want to get this right and understand what our residents, businesses and visitors want the nearly £1million to be spent on.
We have already had three meetings of the working party and everyone, both town and district councillors, the officers leading the team, and the consultants, is determined to draw up a scheme that has come from the feedback. No it won’t be what everyone wants, but we will certainly strive to use the information from the questionnaire to put together a scheme that the majority wants.
Secondly there is no secret plan to pedestrianise the town centre. That is not going to happen within the remit of this project. There simply is not the funding to do it and we are well aware that there is not the desire either.
What we can potentially do is make the town centre more pedestrian friendly. By that we mean dropped kerbs, widening pavements, adding traffic calming measures, changing traffic priorities, better sign-posting, more seating, more shading by planting more trees.
Also what we can’t do is get the retailers people want to take on empty shops. It is useful feedback to know what sort of shops people want but we would use that information for a separate project once the public realm has been completed. And hopefully our town will be more attractive to businessesand we can then create a more desirable location for them and look at ways of supporting their move here.
I was among the many devastated at the recent announcement that Jarrolds will be closing after 40 years on our high street. It will be a real loss to the town and I don’t want to see any more shops deciding on the same course of action in the near future. But I am also realistic in understanding that shopping habits are changing and it is becoming more and more of a challenge to run a successful high street store.
Having said that at a recent Wymondham Business Group meeting that was attended by over 30 business owners there was a sense of optimism and desire to prove that the town is still thriving in so many ways.
I recently heard from Tracy at Ketts Books that there are more businesses opening in Wymondham than closing and while the empty shops on the high street might cause concern there is clearly much to celebrate and build on.
Yes this project has no guarantee of success but what is the alternative? Sit back and do nothing? For me that is just not an option and I think it is a risk worth taking. However I am the eternal optimist and I truly believe that we will see increased footfall in the town centre as a result and an increased sense of pride in our town.
But we need your involvement now. So I urge you to complete the questionnaire and let us know what you want. We especially need more young people to respond so please ask your grandchildren, children, their friends and anyone else who lives or works here to take part. The final scheme will only be as good as the feedback we receive.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Wymondham-Public-Realm-Survey
