ACTION: Levy payers will hopefully have received another reminder email on Friday to take part in our BID 2022-2027 “Taking Newbury to the Next Level” consultation. You can view our consultation document online here. Please let us know via email if you are a levy payer and you have not received your personalised email to take part in the consultation survey (it’s worth checking your junk folder first, just in case it’s made its way into there!).

Since our last update, we’ve delivered a successful Food & Drink Festival in the town centre. It was wonderful to see Bartholomew Street buzzing all day and into the evening – the atmosphere was fantastic! We’re hoping this will become a regular event, and next time we’ll have a much longer window to plan and promote it. There’s clearly strong demand for events of this kind and the feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to all the businesses which shared leaflets with us to hand out on the day. Shaun and I enjoyed speaking to lots of people, some new to the town in recent months who were delighted to see everything Newbury has to offer.

Thanks very much to those of you who attended our recent Meet the BID Board meetings and a special thank you to the Chequers Hotel and Regus, who provided the venues for these free of charge. Sadly, I had to miss the sessions due to a family bereavement, but I understand some excellent discussions took place. Due to our huge workload in the lead up to Christmas and the ballot, we’re not going to hold any further Talk of the Town events until 2022, but there will be lots of opportunities for you to speak to our team and board members on a one-to-one basis over the coming months as part of our consultation process.

Thanks also to those of you who attended our informal Indies Networking event as a preview to the Newbury Real Ale Festival. This event is one of the highlights of the Newbury events calendar and we were delighted to be able to support it with the Visit Newbury brand this year. Around 4,500 people descended on Northcroft Park for the festival and it was wonderful to see many people in great spirits. Events like these are all part of what makes a place special and they help to ensure that Newbury is a place that people want to live in, work in, and visit again and again.

On Thursday, I attended the latest meeting of the Town Centre Working Group and heard from Wayne Hemingway about the results of the second survey conducted as part of the Newbury Town Centre Masterplan. Around 1,000 people responded to this survey and feedback was overwhelmingly in favour of permanent pedestrianisation throughout the town centre, specifically to allow more space for spill-out cafes, pubs and restaurants. West Berkshire Council have been conducting a traffic study and the findings of this will be analysed alongside the survey findings to help guide the next steps. Survey respondents were very clear that Market Place, The Wharf, Northbrook Street and Newbury’s lanes are important to them, but all areas of the town received strong scores. People want to see more space for events, much better use of The Wharf and canalside areas, and plenty of opportunities for independent shops and venues. The final vision will be completed by Hemingway Design by the end of October and WBC will use it to inform future decisions.

I am on holiday for the next two weeks and will be back at work w/c 4th October. Alison or Kirsty can be contacted if there’s anything you need in my absence.