CONSULTATION PROCESS
All members were requested to notify us of their view on the proposed options for the regeneration of the Strand, via our quarterly Newsletter. Their comments could be sent by post, email or telephone.
DARE was very concerned by a great number of members who were either unaware of the display in the United Reform Church on 10/11 December 2010, or were unable to attend. Even more alarming was the fact that many of the traders and businesses claim they were not aware of these consultations and were not notified.
We consider the Strand to be the basis around which the regeneration of Dawlish needs to be built and this must extend to include the Lawn area and Brunswick Place. To enable DARE to ensure that as many member’s comments were collected we also carried out interviews with 21 individuals.
DARE is of the opinion that a 4th option should be considered because we feel it is of the utmost importance Dawlish must not lose any parking near the shops in the Strand.
SURVEY RESULTS
98% of the people who responded to our survey revealed support for timed pedestrianisation (10.00am – 3pm/4pm) of the Strand only if alternative, close to shops, car parking was delivered. It was feared if this provision was not forthcoming, people would no longer shop in Dawlish. Both Barton Hill car park and Station car park were considered too far away to carry shopping.
100% of those surveyed, considered ½ hour free parking should be made available to allow the town centre shops to compete with any new out-of-town supermarket/s, as shown in Options 4A or 4B.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Two alternative 4th Options (A) and (B) have been put forward. Research should be carried out with regard to reversing one-way scheme at Brunswick Place.
2. In future regeneration plans for Dawlish, consideration should be given to constructing a new pedestrian bridge over ‘the Brook’ opposite Gays Creamery. This we feel would create a link with the lawn and the Strand making Brunswick Place, the Lawn and the Strand one area instead of the current three separate areas.
3. We are currently unsure if ‘air quality’ in Iddesleigh Terrace will necessitate the need for traffic lights, but this must be considered when looking at traffic flows.
4. There was agreement that if finance for these options is not currently available, deferment on work should be considered providing there is no loss of funding. It was very interesting to note, many of the members thought it may be worth waiting until after the elections for Town Council in May, before further consultations to take place. We thank you for the opportunity to present the results of our survey and hope they may be helpful.