11/03/2010 -
Yesterday afternoon (10 March 2010) I spoke at a hearing of the Exeter Highways & Traffic Orders Committee in to traffic management in Paris Street.

This is what I said...

Over ten years ago, we mapped out the need to make Exeter City Centre more pedestrian-friendly – and to deliver significant advances in relation to traffic-free streets and pedestrian priority zones. At the time, the overall concept would have been difficult to sell – but the changes were made incrementally and no-one would now suggest rolling back on the substantial improvements we have made for pedestrians in Princesshay, in Bedford Street, in Cathedral Yard, in Roman Walk and elsewhere in the City Centre. No-one would argue that what has been achieved does not make for a better visitor and shopper experience, for a better environment in which our businesses, small and large, can trade more competitively and successfully. This is important context for the remarks specific to Paris Street that I have to make this afternoon.

We must be looking at the long-term and ensuring that we see where we are now as a stepping stone towards the next major elements of City Centre change and renewal that I think all of us in this room would back.

In the longer-term, the complete pedestrianisation of the area of Paris Street after the Civic Centre/Princesshay Car Park junction is surely the right way forward. I appreciate that at first appearance this does not appear to be an option, but I genuinely believe that the bulk of the arguments for the options of maintaining one-way traffic vs reverting to two-way traffic in Paris Street are based on a quick fix, ie what can be achieved in the next 6-12 months, and not a real long term strategy to deal with the problem of the division of the city as a whole. This third option of complete pedestrianisation can only realistically come about as part of the re-development of the Bus Station site and in close co-operation with the developer. This is not beyond the realms of possibility; we only have to look at what has been achieved with Princesshay to see that works of this magnitude are indeed possible.

Retailers will think twice before committing themselves to a site on the ‘wrong side’ of the current traffic barrier. Similarly, developers will be reluctant to invest. Land Securities have talked to John Lewis on a number of occasions about the bus station site. It is clear that one of their significant reservations is the traffic barrier on the upper part of Paris Street – ideally the investor would wish to see all traffic removed or alternatively creating a bus only street. You have received a letter from Nick Davis, Retail Development Director at Land Securities – dated 5 March, which stresses that Land Securities would be “concerned in terms of the longer term regeneration of the bus station area if Paris Street reverted to two-way”. Nick Davis clearly states that his advice is not based on Land Securities’ particular interest as a property owner in this part of the city, but a more generic one which is that developers across the country will tend to press for solutions which eliminate traffic barriers and thus often require bold solutions for them to be effective.

Obviously this is a great concern, we need to actively address the whole issue and put into place a long term environmental traffic management plan which puts pedestrians first – after all it is they who spend money and generate economic activity, not motorists driving through the City Centre.

Most historic cities, such as Cambridge and Bath and York, don’t allow you to drive across the core – it may be convenient but it isn’t necessary. Thus, someone arriving from the east, with a destination on the north side of the City Centre should park in one of the car parks on the eastern corridors and walk 400 metres, rather than driving to the door. If they must drive to their destination, then they take a circuitous route around the core or even the periphery – that’s how it works in Bath.

As a city we are in the enviable position of faring considerably better than most in very difficult economic times. This strength comes from our ability to embrace change and continually move forward, most recently with Princesshay, even when that change is perhaps quite painful. I do not think it over dramatic to state that the Sidwell Street area of the city now represents that next chapter of change, and we really should embrace and plan for the longer term option.

We should all bear in mind that we are simply custodians of the city today, for the future generations of tomorrow.