Durham City Vision
Market Place & Vennels public consultation results
23rd March, 2009
People in Durham have given their overwhelming backing to ideas to revamp the City’s Market Place and Vennels following an extensive consultation period.
A series of public events throughout January and February, organised by Durham City Vision, resulted in more than 2,000 people seeing proposals for how the City’s heart could look following £5.25m of investment.
This resulted in more than 700 feedback forms and questionnaires being completed and analysis has revealed that the majority of the proposals were attractive to local people. The consultation included a two-day exhibition in the Town Hall, several meetings with retailers, local residents and specialist interest groups and a morning spent talking to students in a local school.
The most talked about aspect of the Market Place and Vennels project has unquestionably been the two statues. Organisers are therefore pleased that the idea to put them in more suitable positions within the Market Place has been strongly backed, with 55 per cent opting for relocation and just 24 per cent wanting them to stay where they are. Seven per cent preferred to see the statues removed altogether, so those wishing to see no change were outnumbered by more than three to one.
There was tremendous support for other key aspects of the draft proposals, with three out of four respondents giving their support to the ideas on show, and only one in eight opposing them.
Plans to improve the network of alleyways, called Vennels, that criss-cross Durham City centre were also welcomed. Many people find them threatening at night and this is something that the project will address. The preliminary drawings and proposals were endorsed by more than 70 per cent of participants although there are specific aspects that not everyone has agreed on. All of the raw data can be found on the Durham City Vision website.
Harvey Dowdy, Director of Durham City Vision, said: “This has been a very long process which is very important for such a pivotal project. The work will boost the long term economic performance of the City centre, creating a better experience for those who live, work and study in Durham, plus of course the thousands of visitors that support our shops, bars, restaurants and hotels.
“We know that any project like this is never going to please all the people all of the time which is why we are delighted at the level of support that the design ideas have received. It is a mandate from the people of Durham to start this work and do it to the highest possible standards.
“The exhibition in Town Hall was instrumental in gaining this support. I spoke to dozens of people who came in thinking they’d disagree with it all but having studied the displays and talked with our team, got really excited about the ideas of how the revamped Market Place might look.
“The Market Place hasn’t had any real work done to it since it was last resurfaced in the 1970s; it is about time it got the attention it deserves.”
