FREE parking, a bigger and better market and more promotion should be used to get more people to visit Malvern, says the town's Labour parliamentary candidate
Daniel Walton, who will be contesting the West Worcestershire constituency, which includes Malvern, in next May's general election, says the town's retail centre have been "forgotten" and has unveiled a five-point action plan to revitalise the town.
He said: "All the retail centres of Malvern including Malvern Link and Great Malvern have been forgotten. I don’t understand why it doesn’t seem to be a priority. If we’re not careful we will see a very different high street soon in Malvern."His five-point plan is:
*Increase the frequency of the market to every week and increase its size.
*Extend free parking around Malvern for during the day and weekend to attract people into the town.
*Place brown signs on the M5 to promote Malvern, and good clear signage from the motorway to the town.
*Introduce shared space in Great Malvern for use at weekends to increase the pedestrian area.
*Study how other spa towns in walking areas, such as Buxton and Matlock, promote themselves, and, adopting best practice, promote Malvern to a wider audience.
He said: "We aren’t talking about proposals that have huge cost implications to the council other than to bring in more money for the town and surrounding areas.
"Malvern should be a hive of activity every weekend with tourists flooding in to spend money. As well as promoting ourselves to Birmingham and the surrounding area we need to push our promotion further afield.
"When I tell people I live in the Malvern Hills, I don’t want them to ask me 'Where is that?' I want them to tell me they’ve been here and they loved it.
"Malvern is a unique town in this part of the country but we are allowing it to fall a long way short of its potential. I’m a walker and local and know the huge potential we have to do more as a town for small business and retailers."
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