Meeting Minutes - 29th October 2008

The next meeting will be in January – date TBC

Agenda
• Pay & Display parking update + Davies Way re-design
• Alternative long stay parking
• Trader’s Web Blog
• Village Road Signage - proposal
• Drainage & road surfacing – update
• Customer led trading:- Christmas late night trading – general trading days/times
• Empty units – town centre rents vs village trade
• Talking rubbish!
• AOB

• Parking – there was a very positive meeting with David Boyer from WBC to take parking solutions forward - Pay & Display for all three village car parks is likely to be introduced around the end of March 2009. Feedback will be requested via a consultation to allow consideration of the needs of those involved i.e. traders & residents alike. There may be a re-design of the layout of Davies Way car park plus a possible reduction in the size of the recycling area as a result of the new blue recycling bins in use at most households. Part of the consultation will also survey how many people would be willing to use the Rugby Club car park during the week, whether for car-share or people who work in the village. A permit system at £2 per day has been proposed & possibly local businesses would subsidise this for their staff. The cost of
all-day village parking would need to be high enough to discourage car sharers whilst not being totally prohibitive should people need to park all day under some circumstances. The Tennis Club has not yet been approached re a similar scheme – this site would be much closer for traders. There would be lineage on outlying routes to discourage parking whilst maintaining some on-street options.
• Trader’s Web Blog – lymmtraders.net is a forum to give traders the opportunity to express their views, especially if they find it difficult to attend meetings. Please log on and register using this link.
www.lymmtraders.net
• Village Road Sign Proposal - there was a presentation by Ginger Nut Creative who requested feedback for their virtual designs, based on the French approach which is to display large signs on major roads reflecting the character of nearby villages. The proposed signs (attached) show pictures of local features giving a “Historic Lymm” flavour - they would not date or offend. Currently there is nothing at the major roundabouts approaching Lymm to welcome people or indicate local sites of interest, hotels, leisure destinations etc. Signs displaying distances to the village centre from different approaches would also be useful. The presentation was positively received and there may be funding in place from the Parish Council. The traders may have to find funding for a special sign at the Dam listing all the businesses & for the gateway at the Dingle, but there may be something in the council budget towards this. You can give your feedback to Helen & Peter at Ginger Nut Creative via:
e-mail: info@gingernutcreative.co.uk
telephone: 01925 759 288 or mobile : 07811 038 094
• Drainage & Road Surfacing – there is an ongoing attempt to clear the drains around the Lower Dam - the flooding may be due to grouting from the setts (road paving blocks) blocking the drains. There needs to be an involvement with United Utilities over this. The tarmac patch is temporary & the ground needs to settle before the setts are replaced to avoid subsidence.
• Opening Hours - it was felt that in the spirit of taking the village forward, all the businesses should be open every working day, instead of some being closed on a Monday or Wednesday – also does Sunday now count as a working day? This may depend on the nature of the individual business but it was recognised that businesses with a browse / leisure based customer offer would benefit from Sunday visitor traffic. It was respected that there was an element of personal choice, & small businesses may have staffing problems & need to balance business life with family life & personal health. Would opening an extra day or two bring more business or just spread it more thinly? It was suggested we could put out a questionnaire to see what customers want. A questionnaire is attached with these minutes – please take the time to print some off and ask your customers to complete them – completed questionnaires should be dropped in at either Sexton’s or The Sweet Shop.

It was decided that quite a few traders will open for late night Christmas shopping until 8pm on the four Thursdays running up to Christmas:
27th November
4th December
11th December
18th December
By that time the Christmas lights & decorations would be up & if enough traders participated it would create a festive shopping atmosphere from which we could all benefit. Participating shops can display a poster, plus there is time for a mention in Lymm Life. Posters will be available for those businesses taking advantage of this opportunity.
• Empty Units - rents are too high in some units and maybe we need to compare rents to support traders being overcharged thus preventing units lying empty. See the forum on the Trader’s Website www.lymmtraders.net Caution needs to be exercised to prevent too many unoccupied units becoming charity shops & downgrading the village centre, as has happened in Wilmslow & Cheadle to give two examples.
• Dickensian Day (Saturday 13th December) – the committee spends £8,000 to stage the event and recently put out an appeal for traders to support by advertising or providing sponsorship. The event brings a significant uplift in trade to the overwhelming majority of businesses in the village and it is therefore right and proper that local businesses offer their financial support . If just 50 businesses donated £100 each that would contribute £5000 to the overall cost.
There was an appeal for some traders to be photographed in costume for the next cover of Lymm Life.
• Talking Rubbish – it has been mentioned to the Parish Council that there needs to be a bin placed near Barclay’s as there was before the recent village enhancement work.
• AOB – The Parish Council have been approached by WBC regarding signage in the village centre that has appeared without the necessary planning permission. An amnesty to allow retrospective planning permission is to be introduced. The Parish Council will be in touch with more information soon.

• The meeting concluded at 7.10pm