Plans to pedestrianise large parts of a seaside town have had a mixed response, with some local people keen to attract visitors, but worried about parking.
Many roads in the centre of Colwyn Bay in Conwy county will become much narrower and cycle lanes will be built, some replacing free on-street parking.
A railway station car park will become a pedestrianised plaza.
Conwy council wants to transform the town into a place where cycling or walking is encouraged rather than cars.
As well as making the town centre more attractive, it is keen to radically improve the town centre’s links to the promenade area which is popular with visitors using the vast sandy beach.
“I’ve got mixed views, if I’m honest,” said gift shop owner Caroline Stanyer.
“I think some of the plans are really good, in as much as the regeneration of the bottom of the town to encourage tourism into Colwyn Bay.
“But I’m a little bit worried about them taking a lot of the parking away,” said Ms Stanyer.
“Colwyn Bay at the moment, I feel, is a town where people pop in for things.
“They pop to the bank, they pop to the shop and they want an easy and accessible parking space to do that,” she said.
She welcomed efforts to bring more visitors into town, however.
“If that can be done, great. We don’t get a lot of tourists that come into Colwyn Bay, because of the bypass and there’s not a lot of signage down in that end to encourage people to come up here,” she said.
“As a gift shop , that would be great for us, but. I do think there’s still more people that drive into towns than do walk and cycle.”
Beth Ware, who moved to the town three months ago, said the proposals were “a step in the right direction” but also thought Colwyn Bay needed more investment.
“It’s all about attracting future investment and that’s where we should be focusing on – too many empty shops,” she said.
“But I believe in Colwyn Bay and I know we can we can grow. It’s just a case of attracting the right investment and taking a bit of a punt,” Ms Ware said.
For Ruth Barr, the changes need to work for the local tourism economy, although she said changes could also be made to benefit the local community.
“At the end of the day, we’re a tourist town and it’s whatever is best for the tourists, isn’t it, because without that income, we’re stuffed,” she said.
Anne Marie Heining said the investment and changes to the road layout should come after the town’s shopping centre is improved.
“I think they need to put more shops, rather than concentrate on the cars,” she said.
“They should concentrate on filling the shops and then think about the pedestrians because at the moment they’re half empty,” she said.
Anyone wanting to submit views to Conwy council about the proposed changes has until 14 November to contact it consultation team.
Source : BBC
