Lichfield District Council has been told it needs to “get a grip” on understanding the impact of a new pedestrianisation scheme.
The comments came from Cllr Dave Robertson at a meeting of the local authority last night (17th October).
The council has introduced a part-time pedestrianisation scheme which sees traffic banned from a number of city centre streets from Thursday to Sunday.
In a response to a question on the change, Cllr Janice Silvester-Hall cabinet member for high streets and the visitor economy, said the scheme was currently “informally in place” while the legal process of introducing it took place and revised signage was installed.
But Cllr Robertson, Labour representative for Curborough ward, told the meeting that people would be concerned to discover that data was not already being gathered on the impact of the change.
“I asked for the data from officers and it’s not available, so we are not currently measuring the footfall after the introduction of a part-time pedestrianisation trial two and a half months ago.
“That’s a real concern for me and it’ll be even more of a concern for businesses who rely on that trade. It’ll also be a real concern to people who like a pedestrianised city centre but also like a thriving city centre, and it’ll be a real concern for members of the disabled community who need to use those blue badge bays.
“When are we going to get a grip on this and see a data-led response? How are we going to reassure those businesses?”
Cllr Dave Robertson, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Silvester-Hall said the council was using other methods to understand the impact of the changes and welcomed feedback from residents, visitors and businesses.
“I welcome the attention given to this scheme. With regards to revised signage that’s the part where we look at putting together statutory consultation that follows.
“In the meantime, there is still that mechanism for any users to provide feedback. That is being published on our pedestrianisation page, whether that be from workshops or surveys, and we will continue to do so for transparency.
“There are some very pertinent parts from what we’re trying to do and making sure we have got the legal elements of those absolutely certain before we can make sure that when we embark on the next round of the consultation that we’re getting those meaningful replies.
“I would emphasise that the ongoing ability to feedback is still there.”
Cllr Janice Silvester-Hall, Lichfield District Council
If they are not very careful this issue will just keep going round in circles. There is no doubt that the aged portion of the community have a substantial lobby and want unhindered access but many positive aspects, as many other cities and towns have found, come from pedestrianised centres.
Collecting statistics will prove nothing (they are invariably unreliable) on the other hand sensible observation to see if the ambience is improved is all important for both shops, citizens and visitors.
@Cllr Dave Robertson, The only one who needs to get a grip with reality is you and all the others that think a city centre with traffic going through daily is acceptable. We’ve seen the damage and disorder of having traffic through where familys walk where the market sits. I find the constant accuse that some businesses would fail as disabled drivers wouldn’t be able to park in their favourite spot because 3 minutes on the scooter is too far from the carpark, is utterly pathetic….Grow up you big crybaby.
Booze up and brewery come to mind
Lichfield – The Forbidden City?
Always such a disappointment to see childish name-calling on here from people who choose to hide behind a security blanket of anonymity in order to dish out abuse. Whatever anyone may think of our local councillors, they have to be prepared to put their names to what they say. I rather doubt ‘Local Man’ would be willing to do the same.
Man’s inhumanity to man unfortunately lives on….and will do for the foreseeable future.
However has anyone considered what infomation is currently on sat navs? Currently it would appear sat navs state 30mph where Lichfield has 20mph including outside schools. This may be a national issue as the younger driver set rely on sat navs and do not appear to read the road signs or road conditions for themselves. This could be an issue for the proposed pedestrian zone.
Was trying to listen to this on line.
I really can’t hear half of what is being discussed.
Poor online effort from LDC.
What data and what for? Impact on local trade (data source: businesses)? Littering (data source: council)? Crime (data source: police)? Or, something less tangible, like how nice or accessible Lichfield is perceived to be (data source: survey)? Local businesses and residents seem to be either bemoaning or celebrating the scheme, for all sorts of reasons. Whatever the goal was, I’m sure there’s lots of data sources out there to investigate any related impact.
This article could’ve ended after the first 12 words
Lichfield is nowadays a Total mess. Get rid of the Tory Councillors.
Let’s face it what do you need to go into Lichfield for? Parking a nightmare and shops….what shops? With Tamworth on the doorstep….loads of shops, parking free….that is what Lichfield needs to get a grip of. We have choice and personally I don’t choose Lichfield (except for the excellent Garrick theatre).
Step 1. Visit any of the thousands of towns that did this three decades ago.
Step 2. Do it like that.
Anyone would think this was some novel idea. We don’t need to collect data, we don’t need a discussion. This is a very basic thing pretty much every town and city in Western Europe achieved a generation ago.
My mother suffered with MS for many years and was ultimately confined to a wheelchair for outings. We used to visit Lichfield many years ago and used Three Spires multi storey car park and this never presented us with a problem. I really cannot understand why so many people feel entitled to park outside the front doors of a shop. Lichfield is very well served with many central car parks within the city so a hike to get to a shops really not necessary. I think tbe benefits of a pedestrianised city far outweigh one where you have to be mindful of traffic.
The pedestrianisation of the city centre is a nice idea but i wonder how many people know that people live on Dam Street and some of them own cars and have driveways around the back. How can pedestrianisation of turn city centre ever succeed without either banning those people from having cars or providing alternative access for those people so they don’t have to drive around market square?
@Clare Scholl, You said I “hide behind a security blanket of anonymity in order to dish out abuse” If i was abusing someone Lichfield Live wouldn’t approve the comment, besides I was stating facts. I could say alot more that would be abuse but what would that achieve? If you want to publicize your name then thats your choice but don’t tell me I must do so because you don’t like my comment. Its called free speech, so stop getting knickers in a twist everytime you see me speaking common sense :)
Rose, That makes a change as it’s usually Tamworth that many locals seem to revel in having digs at and bellitling in many ways, both by many Tammies themselves and by Lichfield people.
But in fairness pretty much all areas have their respective issues, and of course nowhere is perfect.
Plus I think councils in general are basically ‘damned if do, damned if don’t’ concerning pretty much anything and everything.
The only thing this scheme needs is Policing. Still a large volume of cars, vans and delivery vehicles coming through the town centre every day of the week. Can anybody confirm whether this scheme has actually begun or not.