People living and working in Newport are invited to comment on new ‘People First Zone’ plans that could shift the priority from cars and vehicles to pedestrians and shoppers in key areas of the town, which would result in the loss of vital parking.
As part of the Newport High Street Heritage Action Zone programme, the Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) partners have drawn up plans to improve Newport High Street and St James Square, to create high quality spaces where people can move around freely and easily, stop and browse in shop windows, or chat to a friend. However, illustrations of how the High Street could look show that on-street parking would be lost.
Plans for the People First Zone have been developed by a community design panel, made up of design professionals from Hampshire County Council, local residents, businesses and user groups. The plans also account for feedback in our previous consultation exercise which gathered views on problems with the streets which were a priority to address.
To view the plans and leave your feedback go to www.iwhaz.uk/pfz.
The plans are at an outline stage and are still undergoing further technical evaluation, but the aim now is to allow the community’s input to genuinely influence the final scheme. Residents feedback will help shape the detailed design stage which will follow later in the year.
Rob Lloyd-Sweet, Historic Places Adviser at Historic England, has said:
“Newport has been the market town for the Isle of Wight for 800 years, but it needs to adapt. Its streets need to better serve businesses, homes, places to meet and worship. I’d encourage everyone familiar with Newport – whether you’re a resident, it’s your place of work, or somewhere you visit regularly – to tell us what you want to see changed in the town centre and how it can be better. We’re helping to fund the development of new designs but it is up to the public to tell us what you want to see.”
3 phases of work are being consulted on and it is anticipated that 1 of the phases will be delivered early in 2023. Further phases will be dependent on securing additional funding.
Newport High Street Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) is a programme of activities to regenerate the historic High Street. The HAZ is a partnership between Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council, Historic England and Isle of Wight Council.
Who the hell wants to stop and look in empty shop windows, they are a disgrace with the junk mail littering the floors.
Why sit overlooking derelict shops when you can be overlooking the beautiful sea.
It’s a no brainer.
During the holiday season and when it is raining, Newport is packed with tourists and locals alike, shopping.
Maybe an indoor market of some sort.
get rid of cyclist and kids might be a goodstart.
How unintelligent .can you come back with an answer please take your time I know it must be difficult
well said
And this is why people frown when you tell them you’re from the Isle of Wight!
You can pedestrianise Newport all you like but if all the shops are closed and boarded up what’s the point?
Great, so…..where do all the vehicles go that have to traverse the high street due to the lack of any form of usable and sensible by-pass? Remember, Trafalgar Road is one direction, Pyle Street is one direction and there is a chicane on the Forest Road (hence why the tractors come down the High Street)…so where do all the vehicles go???
By the way, don’t say left at the lights and down to Hunnyhill as we all know how bad that was during the recent traffic light titivations.
We’ll to me it sounds like a start forget comments by what seems to be small minded people.
But two things need to happen.
1) don’t make rates impossibly high which will leave you with just more empty shops.
2) more police not in cars ,walking to stop the uncontrollable anti social behaviour…..
Easy answer I’m afraid, they don’t want cars on the road, only choice would be Southern Vectis buses
” Residents invited to have their SAY ”
What do you mean ? Like the residents of RYDE had their SAY in there town !
Complete BS.
We in Ryde, had our say about the changes, and got ignored
Yeah, cos there is so much friendliness to be had in newport…..
There is hardly anything worth stopping for in Newport, sadly far too many empty derelict shops. Parking charges are extortionate with the rise in cost of living so if you want Newport to be pedestrian friendly, to invite visitors and Islanders alike to stop in our town, reduce parking, increase parking spaces and ensure shops are affordable with rates for businesses to open up. Again the Council appear to be looking at this massive investment backwards, look at the infra structure and what is on offer when visiting Newport, you need shops that are not available elsewhere to those that visit from Mainland to draw the tourist trade.
The Island is doomed, it does not produce anything, is a tourist island so it shuts down for a substantial period of the year, is barely self sustainable, has a growingly incompetent council at the help shelling out god knows how much on the floating bridge. There is no need to go there for education, in fact everything suggests if you want to get on you need to go to the mainland (talking about the young and to some extent decent employment, hospital and operations ect). It needs actual investment to make it produce things and jobs that are not just poorly paid low skilled jobs. Even the shops are closed. Less jobs…
I have more to say, as the country gets worse, and the focus on cities becomes greater the Island will slide even more down to the bottom of the list. Poverty from what I am aware is growing on the Island, and the shocking decline in shops does not help the already fragile job market. I do honestly fear that things will get much worse for the Island, as all signs point towards it. Victorian-era policies like charging to watch a funeral on a webcam shows that it’s not in a healthy state financially or morally, so that begs the question, what happens when there are no jobs with a council that cannibalises its own population?
Hey Ex islander, you come across as very smug, because you somehow managed to escape the isle of wight.
Not all people can afford to pick up sticks and move to the mainland.
You seem to reval in your dooms day predictions. You don’t live here no more, so why don’t you concentrate on where you live such as Lymington etc.and mind your own.
I love the island and would not live anywhere else.
I wonder how many council officials read the comments on Island Echo of what the true feelings are of the residents of the Isle of Wight, Not many I bet. Those that do, its water off a ducks back..
I hope they make it easier for people to push wheel chairs and improve disabled access.
we had a sweet shop the council killed that. we shop on line now so the council can stick Newport up your A######
Whats the point you lot DO NOT LISTEN then do as you please. Whats up is all our money burning big holes in your pockets
I was talking to a shop keeper this morning, they were wondering where the loading zones had gone!
All i could say was the same place as the on street parking, gone!
The only way to get shoppers back into Newport is to get shops to open in Newport and not out of town green field developments.
This will have the effect of even more shops closing.
Mind you, no matter what the public say or even a lot of shop owners say, the decision has been made and will go ahead.
Clean up the dirty fronts.
Paint
Stop the shops from painting their fronts in ridicules colors.
Clean the windows.
Upgrade and use all the above apartments and rooms.
Put some fee parking in place.
Bring a market “a proper” market back.
Stop charging all the shops so much business rates.
Make a indoor shopping center with lots of interesting shops with lower rents.
Put attendant toilets in place which will be clean, manned and not vandalized, ok you will have to pay 20p or so.
Have quality street food vendors selling on the hoof food but not too overpriced and not make getting a license too difficult.
etc etc.
Before the council go down this road , me thinks they need to encourage businesses back into the town so that the need for the changes is a viable one, as at the moment there is no need
What a joke. The council have already turned the lower half of the high street into a four lane parking zone. Absolute gridlock there earlier today.
this council couldn’t organise free drinks at Coppins Bridge roundabout.
It excludes people who aren’t as mobile as the rest. What’s needed is increased access for cars without charge to stores and eateries. Many older people on the island will feel precluded if these plans go ahead. The car hating continues. Why would anyone want to carry heavy shopping a long way from shops? They won’t. They’ll do online with no double yellow lines or ridiculous parking charges. It looks lovely on paper. The reality will exclude many.
Build a better ring road to avoid it. Or blow it up and start again. The latter would save the dredging costs of the harbour if they aimed correctly.
It’s potentially a really nice town if high street rents were affordable and changeable depending on the seasons. Parking is a joke and with the increasing proposed hourly rate it’ll be cheaper to get the fastcat for a days shopping in Portsmouth.
What are people going to browse at in Newport? So many empty shops. It’s such a shame. How everything is changing and not for the better in my opinion. Newport and Sandown are both in such a sorry state.
What is the point in wasting money on this scheme with so many shops closed, get them open first and get the foot fall to justify it
Word Association
IOW COUNCIL = CLUELESS
Are they going to provide free porters to carry peoples’ shopping to their cars because they can no longer park in the high street?