8 TOWN CENTRES
Bristol hosts first street art festival
This summer Bristol is playing host to the most ambitious permanent street art project ever to take place in the UK, called See No Evil. The event will result in Bristol’s Nelson Street becoming one of the world’s largest outdoor art exhibitions. Some of the world’s leading
Pickles lifts car parking restrictions
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has removed centrally- imposed restrictions on how many car parking spaces can be provided in English town centres. The move was welcomed by the British Retail Consortium, providing councils don’t use extra spaces as a revenue raiser. The BRC’s director of business
and regulation, Tom Ironside, said: “Letting local authorities have the freedom to provide the parking facilities which will best support their town centres is the right thing to do. It never made sense to have Whitehall interfering in this issue. “Accessibility is crucial to the success of town centres. Shoppers look for good transport connections and plenty of affordable parking. Councils should make use of this new freedom to provide more parking
as quickly as possible in areas where it is needed – but it must be at the right price. “It’s short-sighted to treat parking as a revenue raiser. High fees - which take advantage of shoppers - risk driving away business from town and city centres. “Putting up parking charges
may look like an easy option for cash-strapped councils but they shouldn’t be ignoring the wider impact on their communities and economies of the damage higher charges cause to town centres.” And he added: “The focus
should be on attracting shoppers to the local high street, bringing in money and supporting jobs. Income raised from parking should be reinvested in high street improvements to help reinvigorate town centres and benefit the whole community.”
SHOPPING CENTRE August 2011
www.shopping-centre.co.uk
street artists will paint the facades of ten multi-storey Bristol buildings along Nelson Street and event organisers hope that the street art will mirror the success of the street art initiative in Melbourne, Australia, which attracts an estimated 450,000 visitors per year. Ten huge buildings will be
painted over six days in August 2011, transforming this area into an inspiring masterpiece and a legacy for the city. The event is a collaboration
between street artist Inkie, Bristol music promoters Team Love and Bristol City Council’s place making director, Mike Bennett. “We have spent nearly
12 months negotiating and planning this major project, which will be the jewel in the crown of the city’s already buzzing art scene,” explained Inkie.
“We have invited some
of the world’s most talented graffiti artists to bring their skills to the city, and we have a number of returning Bristolians to head up proceedings. “Nothing of this size and
scale has ever taken place in the UK and it’s an event that has captured the minds of some the world’s most respected street artists. It’s a major coup that we’ve managed to pull this off in Bristol.”
John Lewis to pilot new format in Exeter
John Lewis has struck a deal with Land Securities to create the first of a new mini department store format in Exeter. The site had originally been earmarked for the first town centre ‘at Home’ store, but will now be extended to carry an edited selection of the full John Lewis offer. The new plans will further regenerate Exeter’s city centre with John Lewis now occupying all eleven floors of the Sidwell Street site. The selling space will total 65,000 sq ft over five floors and plans include a cafe. It will be open by late 2012. The flexible department store format is part of John Lewis’s
intention to significantly increase brand presence in the UK. On average John Lewis department stores have a selling space of 130,000 sq ft and ‘at Home’ shops, around 40,000 sq ft. A more efficient shop footprint, the new format will average 65,000 to 100,000 sq ft and will allow the retailer to consider opening in locations that had not been seen to be suitable for a large traditional John Lewis branch. The retailer believes there are approximately ten locations across the UK which would support these bespoke department stores. JLP managing director Andy Street said: “A flexible approach
to the size of the shops we open not only provides us with the opportunity to open a flagship shop in more towns across the UK, but enables us to deliver the best retail offer to each catchment.”
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