Political View: We all can play a part in the success of the city centre
As the summer holidays continue, it’s all about keeping the younger ones entertained and to follow up on Councillor Allen’s article, this does bring a lot of us into the city centre, writes Councillor John Howard, Conservative Press Officer.
Maybe for some, it’s for the first time for a while, but the overriding sense from most visitors is being able to feel safe whilst visiting the city centre. This is the most important part of any visit. Councillor Rafiq recently drew attention to this with a Facebook post illustrating some of the challenges faced by visitors.
Politically, there is cross-census that the feeling of being safe whilst in the city centre is of the most importance. The safer people feel, the more they will visit, the more they visit, the more money will be spent in the stores, restaurants and cafes, and the more attractive the city centre will be to new stores. Or even old stores coming back! It sounds simple, but of course like everything there is always more to it.
The work done to secure extra Police officers in the city centre can only help (I reflected on the importance of reporting and the subsequent impact of ‘boots on the ground’ in my previous column a few weeks ago) And what the public don’t see is the incredible work done to tackle homelessness. No doubt we are all familiar with the Light Project, but also the Safer off the streets partnership brings together many vital organisations who are all working to help support getting people off the streets and safe.
Safer off the streets has a new website, and I’d urge you to visit the site to see the number of incredible organisations who support this work, and how they are contributing. I attend the meetings of the partnership thanks to Councillor Alison Jones, and this shows the importance of the work-it is above politics, and we are all on the same page when it comes to wanting to see things better and get people the support they need to get off the streets.
There is much being done to encourage footfall as Councillor Allen noted last week, and a big shout out to Peterborough Positive for hosting some successful city centre events. The most recent being the Peterborough’s strongest competition, yoga, and big screen family events. There is one to come this weekend on Sunday 17th August with the appropriately timed Shaun the Sheep, tying in nicely to the Cathedral event.
We welcome many new businesses to the city centre too, with the recent 33 1/3 bar opening in Westgate, Frasers opening getting ever-closer, and talk of a new ten pin bowling venue in Queensgate too. The balance of leisure and retail is weighing more towards leisure in the world we live in.
The role of politicians, partners and the Police is to ensure that feeling of safety runs through the centre offer, and the job of us as the public is to get out and support it. We’ve seen many stores leave the centre, and the key difference we can all make is to support the stores that are working hard to bring us in.
What’s next? We must reactivate the visitor economy strategy-this is pivotal for the city centre, and the Conservatives will push for this as a group. We also want to see the plans to bring the Guildhall to life come back to the table-this is a key part of the centre offer and should be treated so. Actions speak louder than words, and our group will support positive actions to make a difference in the city centre.
As we stop talking and start acting, we can only ask that you keep visiting and help be the voice of change in our city.