Morpeth first to adopt NightVision recommendations…
Morpeth, one of the North East’s finest market towns, and one of the Civic Trust’s four initial NightVision pilots, has become the first to adopt the Trust’s recommendations on improving its evening economy.
NightVision is the Trust’s vitally important programme to improve the quality of town centres at night by making them more accessible, diverse and sustainable, through better planning, partnership and innovation.
Erskine, who have been partnering the Trust in delivering NightVision, are particularly pleased because Morpeth is a town of real character with great potential and a forward thinking council who had already identified the need to address the challenges of the evening economy - something unusual in a rural location.
The NightVision process identified that while the town had far more licensed premises than usual for such a small location, they were mainly attracting a young party crowd, which was putting off older residents and visitors. Our recommendations included ensuring that the new £30m retail development has the kind of venues that compliment the town’s existing offer to make it lively and family oriented at night, that a new partnership is set up to delver the NightVision plan and that when a new town centre manager is appointed, that the evening economy is integral to their role (something that is rarely the case, even in major cities).
Erskine and the Trust will be keeping an eye on the town’s implementation of NightVision as part of the Trust’s programme to capture practical learning to inform future pilots.
For more on NightVision go to the Civic Trust website or contact Simon Campbell