It seems that suddenly the news is full of ideas to promote Colchester to the world and encourage visitors to the town. The success of the ITV4 Cycle Tour series held in the town recently seems to have aroused renewed interest in the idea of closing off the town centre roads to traffic and creating a pedestrian-only zone. I'm sure this could be good for Colchester if handled correctly - but if we get it wrong chaos will ensue! Personally I'd like to see the town centre shops, cafes & restaurants being encouraged to stay open later into the evenings and can envisage a continental cafe-culture atmosphere in the town centre. However the effect on the traffic flow around the town needs to be carefully planned and monitored and the council be ready to change things quickly if there appear to be problems - from past experience not something I have much faith in their ability to do. One thing that could be changed immediately to improve the traffic flow is to modify the hours the bus lane at North Station road is in use - is it really neccessary to have this enforced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, forcing traffic to take a pointless detour along Colne Bank Avenue?
The council have also announced plans to reduce the cost of car parking in the council controlled car parks. For a long time many people have felt that Colchester is losing out to nearby towns such as Ipswich and Chelmsford because they offer cheaper or more convenient options for shoppers and visitors. At last it seems we in Colchester have recognised that the high cost of parking means we are in danger of killing the golden goose and have reacted to encourage visitors to the town. The plan is for car parks around the town to each promote a different scheme: Shop for shoppers, Enjoy for night-time visitors, Discover for tourists and Work for workers. These new charges are being introduced at the Britannia, Priory Street, Vineyard, St Botolph’s, St Mary’s and St John’s car parks.
Another fresh idea being promoted is the Town Voucher scheme. This is a new free discount voucher scheme for Colchester aiming to encourage local businesess and by offering discounts to shoppers in the town. Sounds like a great idea and if it can get enough support from local traders it could help to generate more business for the town. You can visit the site at www.townvoucher.com.
Let's hope these ideas prove to be a success, we see less empty shops around the town centre in future and we attract lots of new visitors to our town.
