Last updated 13:34, Thursday, 17 July 2008

FOR 30 years the idea of enhancing Hexham’s historic market place has been the subject of informal and formal debate and consultation.

Hexham Civic Society was very pleased when at last Northumberland County Council, Tynedale Council, Hexham Town Council, Hexham Community Partnership, Hexham Business Forum and other interested bodies agreed proposals to implement trial measures. Such a trial would have helped to determine the actual impact of the proposals and therefore provide a solid foundation for continuing, modifying or scrapping the proposals.

It is, therefore, profoundly disappointing that the councils appear to have folded in the face of a petition and an ad-hoc survey of the market place car park.

The petition and survey do not withstand critical examination and should not be have been given the weight they had and been allowed to derail this very important trial.

Both were driven by the small number of traders on the Market Place or its immediate environs and cannot be considered to represent the consensus view of the town’s traders in general.

Let us remind ourselves of the goal of the measures. The 2007 public consultation stated the objectives of the proposed measures to be:

l Improve the Market Place environment for residents, businesses and visitors

l Remove as much through-traffic as possible and generally reduce traffic speed in the area which will significantly enhance the Market Place area and allow the creation of pedestrian friendly attractive public space

The Civic Society believes that the starting point of the consultation should have been to determine the extent to which these objectives are supported. We believe that these objectives would benefit retailers, shoppers, residents and visitors.

The consultation questions, however, focused on the detail of the proposed measures attracting some negative comment and giving the impression that all objectors disagree with the objectives. Too much weight has been given to these comments in deciding to abandon the proposed trial.

Both Northumberland and Tynedale Councils reached agreement on the measures after assessing the wishes of the people, advice from consultants and presumably referring to their own experts. Yet both councils now appear to have shelved improvement proposals on the basis of the petition and survey. This is not serving the best interests of Hexham.

We urge both councils to think again. The Civic Society proposes that both councils reconvene around the core proposal – to make the Market Place a better place for all who use it. Taking this forward requires the inclusion of some of the points made by the objectors, perhaps for example allowing parking in the Market Place outside of core hours.

There is common ground to be identified that will still allow the fundamentals of this scheme to be progressed.

TIM TATMAN,

Chairman andsecretary,

Hexham Civic Society