To receive an update from Robyn Bunyan, Maidenhead Town Manager.

Robyn Bunyan, Maidenhead Town Manager, briefly explained to the new Councillors that her role as Town Manager was to support Maidenhead’s business community as well as its residents to improve Maidenhead as a place to live, work and visit. She then gave the Town Manager update which covered April 2023.

Starting with the High Street footfall, the monthly footfall report showed that the total number of visitors to Maidenhead was 464,000, with Saturday 22 April which coincided with the Maidenhead Waterways Fun Day. She stated this was an example of a community event taking place in the Town Centre and ultimately boosting footfall and the local economy. In comparison to 2019 (pre-Covid), High Street footfall had declined by 2.4% in 2023, which was a good position compared to South East England which experienced a decline in footfall of 11.9% between 2019 and 2023.

The best footfall, Robyn Bunyan explained, was Thursday to Saturday weekly, which coincided with high activity on the High Street, such as the Produce Market, weekend trade, specialist markets (e.g., Vegan Market) and community events.

On car parking usage, the total car parking visits for April 2023 was 49,855, which was a decline compared to 2019. In spite of Broadway car park being closed, there was capacity for parking within the Town Centre, such as Hines Meadow car park, which saw a 25.6% increase in usage in 2023 compared to 2022. In total, parking had declined by only 4.4% across Maidenhead’s car parks, including the Braywick Leisure Centre, Grove Road, Hines Meadow, Stafferton Way, West Street and Vicus Way. A lot of parking had been transferred from the Broadway car park to other car parks. While there was demand for surface-level car parks like Grove Road and West Street, there was active encouragement to use Hines Meadow car park.

Robyn Bunyan informed that resident’s discount through the RingGo parking app was used 1,533 times in April 2023, which had recently been extended to Hines Meadow car park. Resident’s discount had been gradually increasing. Hines Meadow had made up 48% of parking usage in April 2023.

Robyn Bunyan notified that the parking figures did not include permit holders using the car parks as these were not recorded through the parking machines; therefore, she was working to get a clearer picture of this data.

Regarding social media, Robyn Bunyan informed that the Facebook page for the Make Maidenhead social brand, where residents could find news on events in Maidenhead, had 6,686 followers as of April 2023; meanwhile, the Instagram page had 1,700 followers in the same period. In April 2023, the Make Maidenhead Facebook page reach was 5,925 (an organic reach without paid advertising) a 10.6% increase from March 2023.

Robyn Bunyan explained that she continued to host the ‘Where Can I Park?’ Campaign, which sought to highlight car parks across Maidenhead. She stated that the campaign had been well engaged with the community and continued to be engaged with.

The highlights of April 2023 were the Rotary Easter Fun Day and The Waterways Fun Day, which provided the highest footfall of April 2023.

Robyn Bunyan then explained some of her activities. She was undertaking an audit, review and update of wayfinding around the Town Centre, the riverside and the Green Way; and was engaging with wayfinding specialists to enhance and improve wayfinders. This had received funding from the UK SPF (Shared Prosperity Fund).

The Maidenhead Town Team Initiative was launched in the previous week, whereby around 40 people gathered to discuss about making Maidenhead a better place to live, work and visit. There was a lot of pf positivity from the meeting and a lot of ideas were suggested on how to enhance the look and feel as well as how to reinstate some Town pride. She informed that anyone was welcomed to be involved in the Town Team.

A large-scale project occurring in Maidenhead was working with a company called Access Able on creating access-ability guides which informs visitors on the accessibility across the town before visiting an area so that they could be prepared. 25 venues across the town had signed up and were taking part in this scheme. The plan was to launch Access Able in Maidenhead by the end of 2023. The scheme was also taking place in Ascot as well.

Councillor Baskerville asked when the Maidenhead Library 50^th Anniversary celebrations would start and whether she was aware of any celebrations on offer. Robyn Bunyan replied that the celebrations would be from 21^st July 2023 and would include event, such as author talks and a silent disco, using the Library Square and amphitheatre to host the events. She also informed that the anniversary celebration would also incorporate the 50^th anniversary of the Wombles. More information on the celebrations would be released in the coming weeks.

Councillor Bermange asked if the Town Team was focussing on long-term or short-term issues. Robyn Bunyan answered that the Town Team were doing short-term ‘quick win’ schemes, like planting and some events, and long-term projects. She explained that the Town Team was focused on community engagement to ensure Maidenhead’s community came together and do various projects for the town, both short-term smaller projects and long-term larger projects. She also explained that there was also the Maidenhead Town Partnership which received support from local developers and key partners who place funds to help deliver larger projects.

Councillor Martin asked if Access Able could be tied to shop mobility. Robyn Bunyan replied that Access Able would be working with shop mobility. As part of the launch of Access Able, accessible guides would be promoted to shop mobility to inform visitors.

Councillor Taylor, Vice-Chair, asked if residents parking at Hines Meadow had affected people’s journeys and footfall. Robyn Bunyan replied that there had been a change in people’s journeys around the Town Centre which was likely driven by the car park usage and the way the town was changing, namely new areas to visit. There was also a lot of footfall moving towards Waterside Quarter. With the High Street, there had been some dips in footfall, but footfall nevertheless was moving around. In spite of no footfall into the Broadway car park, there continued to be a movement of people nearby.

Councillor Taylor then asked if there were any discussions on shuttle buses to help residents who could not walk from available car parks on the outskirts of Maidenhead to the Town Centre. Robyn Bunyan replied that she had not had those discussion and that conversations surrounding this would be for the Transport and Parking Teams. She was aware and concerned about residents with mobility issues who were unable to cope with use of Hines Meadow. At the moment, a solution had not been found yet, but Robyn Bunyan added that it was worth having a discussion to find one.

Councillor Douglass asked what the timescale regarding the update to the wayfinders and signage. He also asked if the funding for the updating of the wayfinders would cover the repairing of signages and monoliths, adding that there was one on Moorbridge Road had been damaged. Robyn Bunyan answered that all finger posts, signposts and monoliths were part of the wayfinding strategy whereby every sign across Maidenhead was being audited and updated. Regarding the monoliths, she explained that the plan for the monoliths were to make them more simplified; showcase, for example, green spaces and leisure areas; and add notice information to inform residents on what was happening in Maidenhead. On the timescale, Roby Bunyan explained that the funding needed to be spent by 20^th March 2024, but she was seeking to get it done earlier.

The Chair asked if the bins would be changed as well, stating that many bins were in a terrible state. Robyn Bunyan replied that bins did not fall under her remit and instead fell under the Waste Team. Nevertheless, the issues were being identified amongst the Waste Team.

The Chair then asked if Robyn Bunyan would be doing some decluttering of the street signs. She replied that there would be decluttering if they were wayfinders. If they were highway, parking or enforcement signage, she was uncertain as there was potential legality for those signs being placed there. She suggested that if she was sent an image of the sign, she would be able to tell if she and her team could refurbish it or not.

Councillor Shaw asked if demographic information could be collected with the new sources of data for footfall, elaborating that he had received concerns from elderly residents that vertical car parking would disproportionately affect them. Robyn Bunyan replied that deep dive demographic data required additional and expensive to which her team were not committed to at the moment. The collected data, she explained, was superior to what was received before, but it did not reveal the deep dive demographic. In spite of this, her team had an Economic Growth Development Officer who was investigating the demographic data of Maidenhead. She offered to arrange for contact between Councillor Shaw and Economic Growth Development Officer.

(Robyn Bunyan had left the meeting at 7:13pm)