Penrith Road Closure - Business Impact Survey - Results
17th July, 2020
Here are the results from our survey(s) this week which were undertaken in association with Penrith Town BID.
We prepared the following summary findings to present at a meeting to review the road closures this morning.
Through this consultation process we were able to confirm and back up the view that it was the general view of our membership/ levy payers supported by a wide range of residents surveyed that the road closure should be removed.
We thank all who participated in this process and will have a further more detailed analysis of the responses in due course to stand us in good stead for future consultations.
Survey Results:
Open Survey – 210 respondents.
Headlines:
• 79% of respondents were unaware of the proposed closure a couple of days before the closure and the majority of those were not aware until the road closure was in place.
• 77% of respondents supported Chamber/ BID actions to have the road closure removed.
• 74% of respondents strongly agreed that the road closure would negatively impact on recovery for local businesses.
• 50:50 split on understanding why the road closure was thought necessary by CCC.
The Way forward:
• 7% Leave the current roadblock in place and investigate 1-way options
• 11% Leave the current roadblock in place.
• 15% Remove the roadblock and investigate 1-way options
• 67% Remove the roadblock and go back to how it was before the roadblocks were introduced.
(83% of respondents would like the removal of the road closure in full)
Members only Survey – 48 respondents (all business owners and members of chamber or levy payers to BIDs)
The Way forward:
• 13% Leave the current roadblock in place and investigate 1-way options
• 2% Leave the current roadblock in place.
• 27% Remove the roadblock and investigate 1-way options
• 50% Remove the roadblock and go back to how it was before the roadblocks were introduced.
(77% of respondents would like the removal of the road closure in full)
Everyone who completed the open survey had general comments which I can share if requested (the comments would be anonymised for GDPR purposes).
It is interesting that less of the business owners wanted to remove the roadblocks than was represented in the open survey and also interesting that 40% of the business respondents wanted to investigate 1-way options for King Street compared with only 22% from the general survey which comprised a mix of general public
We often hear that shop and business owners don't want change and are not progressive when it comes to the town centre but these stats perhaps suggest that that is not the case and worth bearing in mind.
Please contact us if you want a more detailed breakdown of information.
Stephen Macaulay
President, Penrith Chamber of Trade & Commerce