Falmouth BID launches FREE car parking



Richard Wilcox Falmouth BID Manager



In what will be a first for Falmouth, the Falmouth BID is launching the FEBRUARY IS FREE! car parking scheme, enabling shoppers to enjoy all the town has to offer – its high quality independent shops and national retail businesses, food and drink outlets and visitor attractions – by ensuring that two of Falmouth’s largest car parks The Dell and The Quarry, will be FREE to all who visit on Wednesdays during the month of February 2012. 



The FEBRUARY IS FREE! car parking scheme, one of over 20 projects and schemes kick-started by the Falmouth BID since it was voted in by Falmouth businesses only two years ago, responds directly to feedback from businesses and local people who identify the cost of car parking as a key component in the shoppers’ decision making process. The Falmouth BID has responded to this by liaising with Cornwall Council to spearhead an innovative scheme that will make it even more attractive for people from across Cornwall to‘re-discover’ Falmouth.  

Thanks to the Falmouth BID –

• ALL shoppers who visit Falmouth on ANY of the Wednesdays of the 1^st, 8^th 15^th, 22^nd & 29^th  February and choose to park their car at either The Dell or The Quarry car park can do so for FREE for that 24hr period
• YOU WILL NOT NEED to press any buttons on the ticket machine to get a ticket NOR will you need to display any tickets within your vehicle
• Simply park your car in the highlighted car parks, any time night or day on the dates shown in February and enjoy all that Falmouth has to offer!   

Richard Wilcox, the Falmouth BID Manager said:

“We have to be as competitive and innovative as we possibly can be in order to make our town centre as attractive a proposition as possible for would be shoppers, whether they are coming from Camborne or Cardiff. The cost of car parking is one of the more emotive issues and one that the Falmouth BID highlighted in our High Street Five Point Plan – a campaign that has attracted national attention and indeed recognition in the recently unveiled Mary Portas review of the high street. We as BID have been liaising with Cornwall Council, lobbying on behalf of our BID levy paying businesses to encourage a private sector viewpoint on pricing and policy for 2012 and alongside these meetings, I have been looking at various practical solutions to help support town businesses. By making FREE, car parking in the Dell and Quarry car parks on Wednesdays throughout February, we are doing just that. In such challenging economic times the more the BID works with the businesses in the town to make Falmouth even more appealing for a day visit or longer the better. ”

Guy Thomas, Cornwall Council Town Centre Management Specialist said:

”It is a very positive and encouraging step forward to see a partnership like this between Cornwall Council and Falmouth Business Improvement District.  As a Town Centre Manager, I am acutely aware of the intrinsic link between car park provision and the impact it has upon a town centre. At a time when the collective high street needs as much support as it can get, this scheme is a real example of how Cornwall Council is keen to work with its partners to deliver solutions on the ground, and I hope this is a project which can be developed further in the future.”

Portas High St Review is out

Mary Portas's report on how to tackle to huge issue of declining UK high streets is out and has been welcomed across the industry. Falmouth BID has been raising the issue for quite a while, part of its High St Campaign that led to Richard Wilcox, Falmouth BID Manager being invited to Parliament to take part in a Town Centres discussion with MPs and Ms Portas herself.

"It is a comprehensive report, and it addresses the majority of concerns we have raised here in Falmouth." Mr Wilcox said.

“I am particularly delighted to see that three of the first five recommendations are for greater empowerment for BIDs and town management, and for extra funding to be fixed for these as well. It is gratifying to see she has recognised how we have such a strong role to play in getting ourselves out of the situation we find ourselves in.”

He continued: “She has addressed the need to review car parking charges and called for a thorough review of business rates, which are points we raised in our 5 Point High Street Plan.We need to ensure that town centres and high streets can compete more effectively with out-of-town complexes and become a destination for shoppers once more. I hope now that this is not just a document that sits on the shelf, but that we see the government take notice. The vast majority of traders across the UK will be hoping to see real action, which we hope will then feed down to Cornwall and Falmouth itself, so we can continue to drive forward the town centre, but with more backing."

To read the Mary Portas report CLICK HERE 

To read the British BIDs view CLICK HERE.

Falmouth Spring Festival 17-25 March

We have a terrific schedule taking shape for the second BID funded and organised Spring Festival next year. We had over 4,000 visitors to the various events for this year’s Festival and are now looking to build on that to further help the town’s businesses. There are a couple of new events that I would in particular wish to highlight:

Run Falmouth – a half-marathon Falmouth’s first, in partnership and raising funds for Cornwall Hospice Care. A scenic route taking in beaches and coastline with proceeds going to Hospice Care. We will be starting and finishing this on The Moor on Sun 18^th March. To register for this great event click on this link

Run Falmouth Fun Run – you can still be part of the day by running the shorter 1.5 mile route. To register for this great event click on this link

Zumba Zestifal – also taking place on The Moor this event in partnership with Helen from The Core we hope will be Cornwall’s largest open air Zumba event! £10 to take part which includes a yellow Spring Festival T-shirt, this should be great fun! Time 1pm Sat 24^th March.

Falmouth Art Gallery Let’s get Arty – a series of FREE creative workshops also taking place on The Moor on the 17^th and 24^th March.

I will be in touch in the New Year to get retailer support for the very successful Paint the Town Yellow Day we did this year, whereby schoolchildren will window dress shop fronts.

Click on the link given here to visit the Falmouth Spring Festival page on Falmouth.co.uk and see the full range of activities planned   

Localism on the agenda

As you may be aware, the Localism Bill was given Royal Assent last week and is now an Act of Parliament.  The impact on this is particularly relevant to devolution and community rights to challenge, plus community inputs re planning decisions. 

Please find it at the link below: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/localismplainenglishupdate

Falmouth part of Olympic Torch route

Details of the route the Olympic Torch Relay will take through Cornwall on Saturday, 19 May 2012 , the First Day of its historic journey through the UK, have been released by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

News that Land’s End had been chosen as the starting point for the 2012 Olympic celebrations was announced earlier this year. Since then LOCOG has been working on drawing up the list of more than 1,000 villages, towns and cities, through which the Olympic Flame will be carried by Torchbearers during the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay which is presented by Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung.
The route announced by LOCOG will see the Olympic Torch carried through 20 towns and villages in Cornwall on 19 May. Starting in Land’s End, it will then travel though Sennen, Newlyn, Penzance, Marazion, Rosudgeon, Ashton, Breage, Helston, Falmouth, Truro, Newquay, St Stephen, St Austell, Stenalees, Bugle, Lanivet, Bodmin, Liskeard and Saltash before crossing into Devon on the Tamar Bridge at the end of the day. Along the route iconic landmarks, such as St Michael’s Mount and The Eden Project, have been chosen by LOCOG as a focus for photo opportunities for the world’s media.
On leaving Land’s End, the Olympic Flame will travel an estimated 8,000 miles around the UK giving thousands of communities and individuals their moment to shine as the Olympic Torch comes to a place near them.
Details of the route announced means that the Olympic Flame will be taken to within an hour’s journey time of 95% of the population. The street by street detail of the route will be confirmed next year. People can view the interactive map at www.london2012.com/olympictorchrelaymap to find their nearest community through which the Olympic Flame will be carried.

Falmouth Spring Festival's Guerrilla gardening scoops award!

Derelict site revamp at Bell’s Court recognised at Cornwall in Bloom Awards

An innovative community focussed project, kick-started as part of the first Falmouth Spring Festival, has scooped a coveted award at the annual Cornwall in Bloom awards gala. The Guerrilla Gardening Day at Bell’s Court in the centre of town, was organised in an effort to spruce up an historic but neglected corner of Falmouth. Over five tonnes of rubbish and foliage including six 30ft Buddleia trees and a number of heavy white goods were cleared off the site by volunteers one sunny Saturday back in March this year. Donated shrubs and flowers were then planted turning the 40ftx25ft site into an amenable space that can be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. An agreement was then reached between the Falmouth BID and Falmouth Town Council to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the area.

The Falmouth Spring Festival is another project funded and organised by the Falmouth Business Improvement District (BID), who worked with local traders, organisations such as Falmouth Town Council, NMMC, University College Falmouth and Event Cornwall to put together a host of exciting events, activities and community themed initiatives that sought to celebrate Falmouth’s parks, gardens and open spaces. The BID responded to town BID levy businesses’ suggestions and ideas for an early season event that would not only promote Falmouth beautiful places but help to raise the town’s profile further in an effort to attract extra visits and spend. The first Spring Festival in March 2011 did just that, with figures gathered post event suggesting over 4,000 attended the numerous guided walks, talks, Gardeners’ Question Time, Rockpooling on Castle Beach, Spring Fashion Show and Discovery Quay Spring Fair events, with several traders reporting an increase in footfall during the week.

Now firmly on the annual Falmouth events calendar, the second Falmouth Spring Festival will take place between 17^th-25^th March 2012 and a number of new events are planned including a big pavement art event in conjunction with Falmouth Art Gallery and a Zumba Zestifal both taking place on The Moor, the latter aiming to be the largest open air Zumba event seen in Cornwall.  More community based schemes will be organised in collaboration with Falmouth schools and UCF students and a number of sites will be tackled by the Guerrilla Gardening crew.

The Lenkiewicz Archive exhibition

Driftwood Gallery, Falmouth will be hosting The Lenkiewicz Archive exhibition.  Robert Lenkiewicz is without question the most famous artist the West country has seen for many years and the Driftwood gallery are proud to exhibited one of the most extensive collections of original art as well as fine art Limited Editions since the copyright passed to The Lenkiewicz Foundation in 2010.  It also includes a fascinating range of collectable published works from his substantial archive of previously unseen notebooks and illustrated journals bequeathed to the Foundation.

Driftwood Gallery, Falmouth 4-11 Nov