Durham City Vision
Durham People’s Market Place Verdict
28th May, 2008
The Market Place and Vennels Consultation results have now been collated and reveal that Durham is cautiously keen for change.
Hundreds of people, from a wide spectrum of the community, had their say on the future of Durham Market Place. These included: the public – over a two day event at St Nicholas Church, the ViewPoint Panel comprised of a group of City residents who registered to offer their views on various issues, City centre businesses and students from the Durham Johnston School.
The consultation aimed to capture people’s views and ideas for regenerating Durham’s Market Place and Vennels. Topics included: seating, use of space, outdoor markets, events, lighting, shop frontages, surfaces, statues, traffic, night time use and market stalls.
There was an overwhelming response surrounding the future of the statues. The vast majority of respondents want the statues to stay in the Market Place. This was reflected by all of the different groups consulted. Many people commented that the statues could do with being ‘tidied up’. Some however identified that, “there would be much more space in the market if they were moved,” and this could allow for better events and outdoor markets.
Responses surrounding the use of space and night time use in the Market Place show that the public are generally happy with the current use of space.
More than 77% of respondents would not like to see the outdoor market made bigger but would like to see more happen in the Market Place with music and family orientated events the most popular suggestions. Although people were generally satisfied, it is clear that there are calls for improvement so that Market Place can be the setting for world class events through day and night.
The general public and ViewPoint Panel were more dissatisfied with the shop frontages than the Durham City Centre businesses. However, it was widely acknowledged that all respondents wanted to see some shop frontages improved. “I think an old world theme would attract more visitors,” commented a Durham City Centre business. The general public indicated that they would like the shop fronts to, “keep a traditional look” and that they “need a revamp.”
The surface of the Market Place and pavements were considered to be less than satisfactory and over 50% are keen to see improved surfaces. This topic was a major concern to City Centre businesses with one retailer saying: “Keep some of the cobbles but also make it safe for people to walk on, by providing a flat surface too.” Conscious of the difficulties of walking across the cobbles, people want to see a more even surface in keeping with the character of the City Centre.
There was a general consensus that the City Centre lighting is sufficient but over 75% of respondents want to see environmentally friendly lighting used in the Market Place, which is very much in the spirit of the Lighting & Darkness Strategy already produced by Durham City Vision.
These findings are currently being used to produce a design brief that will be issued to prospective designers in summer 2008. Following the tender process, a design team will then be appointed to create a new vision for the Market Place and the Vennels.
Harvey Dowdy, Regeneration Manager for Durham City Vision, said: “The Market Place Consultation has been a true success and we are encouraged by the level of participation from the people of Durham. The results have shown us that people enjoy the City Centre and are also very proud of its heritage.
“We can assure everyone that the statues in the Market Place will not be moved somewhere else and we want to thank everyone who got involved and will continue to work with you on the future of Durham City Centre.”
