People First Zone
How can I get involved?
We now have outline designs for a programme of improvements to the High Street and St James’ Square and are consulting on these plans to get community feedback to help shape the final scheme. You can see the plans and comment on them via our consultation portal at https://app.placechangers.co.uk/campaign/224
You can also download a copy of the consultation in PDF format by clicking here. It also includes a printable version of the consultation questions if you want to respond by post.
What is the People First Zone project?
The People First Zone seeks to create an environment in the town centre that puts the needs of people first. We are aiming to create high-quality spaces where people can move around freely and easily, stop and browse in shop windows or chat to a friend. Our historic streets and squares are peppered with fantastic historic buildings and the streets and squares should provide a suitable setting for them. The health and environmental benefits of greening our town centre can’t be ignored, and Newport is the capital of the Isle of Wight biosphere, so we’ll also be looking at how we can introduce more greenery to the town and crate new urban biodiversity opportunities.
Why create a People First Zone?
As traffic has grown over the years cars and other vehicles have gradually dominated the town centre’s streets. This was a key issue raised in the Newport Place Plan Survey, Newport Pedestrian Audit and Historic Places Panel Review. The environment for people walking around parts of the town is poor and doesn’t encourage people to spend time in the town. The quality of many of our streets and public spaces are poor and much more could be done to bring these spaces to life.
Where is the People First Zone
The current project includes St James’ Square and the High Street between St James Square and the Guildhall. The project budget may not enable delivery of all the physical works, but will include design work and delivery of a first phase, with later phases to be delivered as funding can be secured.
Of course there are many other parts of the town that would also benefit from improvements and we hope this will be the start of an ongoing process of regeneration of our streets and spaces.