Asking wrong people the wrong question

Warwick has the castle that attracts thousands of visitors. However these customers of Warwick, on their own, do not provide a sustainable economy. They do want - food, drink, accommodation, ‘boutique shops’ - the services that could also be supported by staff from town centre offices and by people living locally. So for me the question is how do we get these local people spending money in the town?

Moving the Law Courts to Leamington surely had its logic but did the budget for the move include regeneration of the direct and indirect office jobs? In addition, the necessary cuts in the council expenditure will not help council office staff spend money in the Warwick economy. We are building new offices but these are out of town and as helpful to the centre as out of town shops!

So what are we doing to create office space in the centre of town - a world leading internet infrastructure? Enabling existing offices to be sympathetically modified to meet modern business requirements? Business rate holidays? Providing parking? I think we are more likely to be arguing how to maintain an antique building in its current dilapidated state.

If we want surrounding local residents to come to Warwick then we need to open parking space for them. Living in the centre of town, I know how difficult it is to park in the evenings! So when traffic wardens stick the parking tickets on the cars they might also provide information as to where people could park conveniently, legally and for longer.

In gaining consensus as to what needs to be done to make Warwick ‘vibrant’, the focus needs to be on those who will make it vibrant - the businesses that attract people to spend money in the town. I suspect that the Warwick Town Centre Partnership may be asking the wrong people the wrong questions and that is why they are having trouble finding the right answer. - G R Penrose, Back Lane, Warwick.