West End Businesses Urge Mayoral Candidates

Oct. 3, 2011 - PRLog -- Today, on the eve of the New West End Company Annual General Meeting attended by over 100 Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street businesses, New West End Company reveals its West End Mayoral Manifesto – the first for a London business district - calling for the candidates to take a serious look at the West End’s traffic congestion before the economic and environmental consequences seriously impact the future health and prosperity of the West End.  

One of the first tasks of the Transport Commission would be to review measures to reduce the 450 buses an hour along Oxford Street and Regent Street.

The event will see the President of New York’s business led Times Square Alliance, Tim Tompkins, demonstrate the success of the several pedestrian-friendly initiatives in New York, including the pilot pedestrianisation of Times Square in the summer of 2009, which was so successful that it will now be a permanent feature. He will also speak of other New York City programmes like Summer Streets, which closely track the West End’s campaign for more traffic free days - where traffic is diverted off Oxford Street and Regent Street.
The Transport Commission would play an integral role in enabling London to meet the 20% CO2 reduction target by 2020 and reduce congestion on Oxford Street and Regent Street. The manifesto suggests that the introduction of a Berlin style Low Emissions Zone will help London meet EU emissions standards.

Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, Chairman of New West End Company representing businesses in Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street says: “Issues of traffic congestion can have an effect on West End visitor numbers, issues which two consecutive Mayors have made progress in addressing but more needs to be done. 73% of shoppers in a recent West End survey cited traffic congestion as the number one issue affecting the West End with the majority in support of more traffic-free shopping days.  

“Tackling these priorities could prove to be the deciding factor in the Mayoral elections in May 2012. Other cities around the world have dealt with their traffic congestion such as Shanghai, Tokyo and New York – London can do the same.”
 
London’s West End is the economic powerhouse of the Capital, and is vital to a thriving London – 90% of visitors to London shop in the West End. To cement London’s West End as an economic and retail force on an international stage requires real innovation for long-term growth, investment and promotion from the Mayoral candidates.
Ten Steps the Mayor Should Take for London’s West End:

IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE WEST END
1.   Reduce the number of buses - Establish a Mayoral Commission to examine the future needs and challenges for travel into and around the West
End, to define a vision for its future and a plan to achieve its early implementation.

2.   Meet EU emission standards - Commit to meeting legal emission standards within one year by putting in place a Berlin type low emission zone for the West End.

3.   Clean up the clutter - Support specific plans for key areas to create iconic, contemporary and green environments. Help match fund West End property owners’ investment to further improve public spaces.

4.   Recognise that the image of the West End is important for the whole of London - Use your agencies to provide resources and jointly work with business and Westminster City Council to focus on specific ‘eyesore’ problems from pedicabs to dumped rubbish and from illegal traders to abandoned road works.

5.   Take a hard look at the impact of marches and protests - Press the police to use their powers to route marches away from the West End and towards more appropriate areas.

6.   Continue to drive down crime - Progress has been made over the last 3 years – ensure that police resources are kept in place to continue reducing crime rates.

ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT IN THE WEST END
7.   Minimise the disruption of Crossrail works - Work closely with West End businesses, Westminster City Council and Transport for London to ensure that Crossrail plays its part in maintaining the vitality of this international shopping destination throughout construction.

8.   Support the revitalisation of areas still in need of improvement - Make the regeneration of east Oxford Street, the Marble Arch area and New Bond Street an economic and planning priority. With the relevant local authorities drive forward a vision of what the area should look like in 10 years’ time.  Introduce more retail and leisure focussed planning policies for the BID district and through the revised London Plan work to bring all partners together to create a retail district without equal.

PROMOTE THE WEST END
9.   Champion the West End - Acknowledge the West End’s vital importance, both to London’s economy and Londoners’ wellbeing. Give the District the priority it deserves in particular through encouraging more traffic-free days which have proved such a success for millions of Londoners.

10.   Ensure that the West End also wins a legacy from the Olympic Games - Recognise through joined up and focussed marketing that the West End, as Britain’s shop-window to the world, can help maximise London’s potential as a key cultural hub and world city.

Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, Chairman, New West End Company continues: “This week, we have sent the West End Mayoral Manifesto to all candidates and I would be delighted to meet them individually to discuss the issues that West End businesses need the next Mayor to address.  London’s West End is a key component of the Capital’s economic prosperity, generating over £6billion of income annually and employing over 100,000 people.”

Tim Tompkins, President of New York’s business led Times Square Alliance, who today joined New West End Company at the AGM, where the Manifesto was launched, adds: “The benefits that can be gained from pedestrianisation are huge. In New York, our pilot programme led to such improvements in the public realm experience that both visitor satisfaction and retail rents soared, with the result that not only are the pedestrian plazas permanently closed to traffic, but the City is also now investing millions of dollars in a capital improvement scheme for the plazas.    We worked closely with the Mayor and municipal authorities to implement solutions to the problems faced by businesses and are keen to share our experiences to help address what I understand to be comparable problems in London’s West End.”

Harold Tillman, Chairman of the British Fashion Council and owner of Jaeger and Aquascutum says, “The traffic free days bring a very much needed stimulus to London retailers, I would like to see them happen much more regularly, they are a huge success.”

ENDS
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Notes to Editors
More Information on New West End Company:
New West End Company is a company dedicated to driving forward London’s West End as the world’s top shopping destination. It is supported and run by major retailers and property owners in Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street.
New West End Company ensures the ongoing commercial success of the area by promoting the district, delivering street management services and funding public realm projects to improve the shopping environment.  It is a leading partner in the biggest regeneration programme of London’s West End in its history.  Find out more at www.newwestend.com
200 million visits take place in the West End each year.  Of these visitors 25% are from overseas and a further 21% are from outside of London.
Oxford Street was named best destination in the Visit London awards 2007 & 2008.
London’s West End is the world’s top shopping destination, with a world-class mix of 600 shops, 40 renowned theatres, 30 museums and galleries, 17 Michelin star restaurants and 7 tranquil green spaces.