The Town Centre

I have recently bought a property in Letchworth and now obviously have a vested interest in improving the town centre! I think we all agree that there is something not quite right about the feel in the town centre. It has a 50/50 mix of nice buildings to very ugly buildings. Same with the businesses themselves: Poundland, Iceland and Wilkinsons are thriving - which is good, we need them - but I worry about the independent businesses. Davids bookshop is fab, as is broadway cinema and I like the little wine/tapas place at the station. We also recently tried out the Thai garden and it was very good. There are some cute sandwich shops, the deli and the butchers on Leys Avenue are lovely.

(Speaking of Leys Avenue, which bright spark thought that removing the mature trees was a good idea? That was a such a bad move as now the centre feels drab, grey and concrete-y. The water features are nice however not so sure of the wisdom of having something kids will want to run and play in so near vehicle traffic.)

But back to the issue at hand, the town centre at night feels extremely quiet. I think focus should be made on encouraging more day/night footfall by adding more cafes and restaurants. I don't think chain restaurants are necessarily a bad thing as people trust certain branding and are more likely to visit regularly. Losing marks and spencer was a blow and I understand Pizza Express was due to open a restaurant and were scared away for some reason? Overall, there are some very well off people living in this city and you simply dont see them shopping and supporting the businesses here. I think this needs to be looked at.

I see loads of suggestions for supporting the arts or for creating a garden centre in the town. I am a huge fan of both the arts and gardens however I think a more practical approach needs to be taken. We need services that keep people regularly visiting/shopping/eating/drinking in the town centre. Footfall and bums in seats is what gives a town it's 'life' nevermind the financial support required to keep it healthy and strong. Arts and crafts fairs are great ideas but these will not keep the regulars coming. Neither will nurseries all year long. What about a monthly arts/crafts or garden plants fair similar to the very successful farmers market instead?