Agenda item

Presentation from Donna Wilkinson, Principal Economic Development Officer, Buckinghamshire Council.

Donna Wilkinson (Principle Economic Development Officer) from Buckinghamshire Council was invited to give a presentation to Members regarding plans to reopen the local highstreets as the social restrictions associated with the pandemic eased in the future. Donna stressed that this was a key opportunity for local businesses, shops, restaurants, bars/pubs and cafes to be considered in the planning process and was the latest stage in an ongoing effort to support local business since July 2020.

Donna drew Member’s attention to the Business Survey conducted in Marlow in August 2020, to gauge the impact of COVID on local business practices and the steps that had been taken to mitigate the negative effects of traditional shop closures. It was suggested that a similar survey be conducted in the local area to generate ideas on how to promote footfall back into shopping centres and on highstreets as social restrictions eased. Feedback was sought on some further suggestions to create a welcoming and safe environment for shoppers including:

·         Refreshed Signage

·         Planters (for social distancing)

·         Hand Sanitising Stations

·         Bespoke Social Media-Ready Graphics

Some European funding had been made available, on the condition that it was not put towards helping an individual business over others, and that it promoted safe, socially distanced activities in the shopping centres to mitigate the risks of infection.

Llew Monger suggested the creation of a Community Loyalty Card Scheme to incentivise shoppers to return to the highstreets and shopping centres, and support local businesses that signed up to the scheme. This could be achieved with Council or Community Board Funding to subsidise discounts in stores. Donna informed Members that a similar suggestion had been made as part of the recent business survey and had also been implemented on a small scale in other community board areas. Llew stressed that a coordinated scheme across the county was key to encouraging wider public and business buy-in, which would also appeal to those already involved in the existing loyalty schemes in operation. Donna agreed to consider the idea further with the Economic Development team, including the possibility of a mobile app to be used in place of a physical card.

Donna also encouraged Members to get in touch if they knew of anywhere that parking bays could be temporarily utilised to widen the pavement to enable pedestrians to practice social distancing with little disruption to motorists. Efforts had been made to simplify pavement licensing to allow customers of cafes to sit outside, though this was difficult in areas with narrow pavements which limited the ability for passers-by to social distance from those sat outside. Vron Corben highlighted that the size of many cafes and eateries in Winslow was too small for social distancing inside, but that the pavement on the Winslow high street was also narrow. As an alternative it was proposed that increased signage and publicity for the cafes might be more suitable.

It was suggested that the churchyard or market square might be able to provide an alternative location for a dining space outside as the weather improved, or that temperature checks could be required for customers to sit inside.

Members thanked Donna for her time and it was hoped that local shopping centres and highstreets could be reopened and revitalised as soon as possible after social restrictions eased.