MP calls on councils to 'learn from Covid' and pedestrianise town and city centres
Town and city planners should "learn from Covid" and consider pedestrianising central shopping areas to create a café culture, a Tory MP has said.
Michael Fabricant has called on councils to look at banning traffic in and around high streets, saying coronavirus lockdown rules had led to "less pollution and fewer blocked roads".
The Lichfield MP said the move could lead to parts of Staffordshire becoming "a magnet for visitors", with more pavement cafés and restaurants to boost the local economy.
He has written to Lichfield Council leader Doug Pullen, asking him to consider incorporating pedestrianisation into the authority's future plans for the city centre.
Mr Fabricant urged town and city planners to "be flexible and learn from Covid", after the lockdown saw businesses using spaces in front of their premises in order to comply with social distancing measures.
He said "the inner heart" of Lichfield – Bore Street, Bird Street, Market Street and Dam Street – should be permanently pedestrianised with access only for deliveries at specified times.
"It would transform the very essence of our city for the better," he said.
"The temporary pavement cafés allowed in Bore Street and elsewhere arising from emergency Covid legislation show the way. Pedestrianisation will encourage tourism and boost our local economy.
"The evidence from elsewhere in the country is that it becomes a magnet for visitors and results in a more imaginative and diverse retail and dining offer.
"It would need imagination and flexibility from Staffordshire County Council who have authority over highways, but even they may have to admit that keeping cobble-stoned Bird Street open as a traffic throughway is neither practical nor desirable.
"Of course, I am well aware that pedestrianisation is always controversial. The able and disabled understandably and inevitably worry initially about access while shop keepers are concerned about reduced passing trade.
"But elsewhere over the last forty years, pedestrianisation has been shown to encourage footfall and make for a cleaner and more pleasant shopping and dining experience."
