November Town Centre Forum Round Up

Early this morning saw the monthly get together of town centre stakeholders for the forum meeting with hot topics such as events over the Christmas period, rejuvenation of the indoor markets and police initiatives up for discussion.

Here’s our summary of how thing’s went:-

Marketing & Events
Town Centre Manager Isobel Garner alerted the group to the events happening in the run up to Christmas which include the Christmas Light Switch On in just over a week from now (find out more about it here) on 21st November; also that Saturday 7th December sees the arrival of Santa into town with the usual fanfare.

Whereas in recent years Santa’s grotto has been situated in Queens Square, and has attracted upwards of 3,500 visitors according to the council’s Marketing & Promotions Manager Amanda Davies, this year it will move indoors to the People’s Market in line with the recent rebranding and attempts to rejuvenate the market space.

Isobel Garner also confirmed the popular Victorian Market is set to return this year at St. Giles’s Church on Thursday 12th December.

Chair of the meeting Kevin Critchley pointed out Small Business Saturday will be taking place on Saturday 7th, the same day as Santa’s arrival, and that Beth Bennett (who organised WrexFest earlier this year) was attempting to ‘make something happen’ in the way of setting up the opportunity for local traders to take up stalls. This was originally proposed to expand into High Street, however Kevin Critchley said the focus has now shifted to ‘getting this launched’, perhaps with a view to expanding for next year.

Police Matters

Members of the forum were introduced to Chris Cheshire, new Retail Crime Officer with North Wales Police. Chris outlined a number of initiatives currently being rolled out by North Wales Police including one called ‘reducing the strength’. This is based on a concept originating from Ipswich involving police officers inviting convenience store owners to voluntarily take ‘super strength’ cheap alcohol off the shelves in a bid to reduce anti-social behaviour.

Chris also reassured members of the forum of the operations taking place in the run up to Christmas, including ‘Op Santa’, which will involve more high visibility policing in and around the town centre both during the daytime and going into the evening.

Unfortunately there was no breakdown of town centre crime statistics provided to the forum on this occasion, however Chris did inform members that overall crime for October (year-on-year) was down 4%, a figure they are looking to improve on for the months of November and December.

Town Centre Indoor Markets

Amanda Davies gave a brief overview of the current situation with the markets. She referred to the ongoing ‘chicken and egg’ situation in relation to traders and shoppers, but that the recent Halloween event had been a great success for traders in the markets.

In order to build on the success of this event, the council are now planning monthly events in a bid to attract people in to the markets. To supplement this new directional signage is to be placed around town, mainly aimed at those unfamiliar with Wrexham.

Amanda also pointed out there is still staging in the People’s Market which can be used by either market traders or other town centre traders for demonstrations and the like.

In relation to tenancy, she pointed out the council are promoting a ‘trade for a tenner’ campaign via their social media channels. Amanda said this had been received well thus far, but was challenged by one forum member on the clarity of £10 per day given there were insurance and other costs to factor in for prospective traders. The forum member went on to say there was ‘literature required’ to make it clear to traders exactly what agreement they were entering into.

Council Led Events Going Forward

Forum Chair Kevin Critchley enquired as to whether there was an events team within the council going forward, and whether a programme of events was in place.

Amanda Davies stated there will be an events strategy going forward, with a specific one for town centre events. She did however note the backdrop of the cuts being imposed on the council, and that people should expect a reduced number of events going forward. The need for lower expectations was reinforced by Council Leader Neil Rogers.

Car Parking Fees

One forum member labelled council plans to raise parking fees early next year as ‘outrageous’. He suggested that there could be a system implemented whereby businesses in and around town subsidise the parking costs should visitors to town purchase goods from their shop.

Forum Chair Kevin Critchley asked the forum member to look into it further to see whether it was a ‘goer’.

In response to the original claims about the proposed parking fees, Council Leader Neil Rogers pointed out that Wrexham is cheaper than Chester and Shrewsbury, and during consultation in July the public had themselves suggested car parking as a way to generate revenue. He went on to point out that free parking after 3PM will still benefit a large number of the local population.

Quarterly Events / What’s On Guide
Members of the forum were informed by Amanda Wynne-Evans that, unfortunately, the much debated What’s On Guide would not be happening. A lack of event listings and information was cited as the main reason for this, with the costs to the council of producing the booklet also a cause for concern.

Amanda (Wynne-Evans) apologised to the forum for any disappointment caused by the decision to not proceed with the guide.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 3rd December at 4.30PM in the Council Chamber, so if you have anything town centre related you would like to discuss and debate do pop over to the Guildhall in just less than a month’s time.