Cabinet members at City of Doncaster Council have approved the creation of a new city centre masterplan and the submission of proposals to Government for the first three years of Long-Term Plan for Towns (LTPT) funding.
The strategy, which is due to be completed by the end of 2024 and will outline plans for the city centre until 2050, also includes the planned use of existing and potential funding opportunities, including the LTPT funding and Levelling Up Partnership (LUP) funding.
Since 2016, the city centre has been following the Urban Centre Masterplan, however a number of challenges, including COVID and the national issue around retail, as well as the positive impact of Doncaster becoming a city, have meant that a new masterplan to guide the future of the city centre is needed.
Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: “As the North’s newest city, and with the national challenges over the past few years, it became obvious that we needed to review the direction of the city centre and we now have the opportunity with funding, to tackle this head on.
“As part of this, we launched the ‘Big City Conversation’ a consultation survey aimed at residents and businesses to understand their views of the city centre and what they would like the city to offer. I want to thank over 8,000 people who took part as this has presented findings which will be fundamental to the creation and delivery of the strategy.”
The Big City Conversation, which was held as an online survey and face to face focus groups, had over 8,000 respondents and found the following headlines:
- Shopping (61% of respondents) and Food/Drink (47%) were the most common reasons cited for visiting the city centre followed by the Transport Interchange (36%), Leisure & Culture (33%), and the Market (30%).
- 65% of respondents said the quality and variety of the shopping and retail offer was extremely important to them.
- The biggest concern raised by people of all age groups was safety and security. When asked how safe people felt when visiting the city centre, 51% said they felt very or somewhat unsafe.
- However, people who visited the city centre regularly, or have visited more recently, were much more likely to feel safe there, with 86% of people who say they never visit the city centre saying they feel unsafe when visiting. 78% of people who have not been to the city centre for more than a year said that feelings of safety and security impacts their decision whether to visit.
Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, added: “We have heard your views and will take everything on board when creating this new strategy. It is vitally important that the city centre offers both variety and safety and this will form a large part of the masterplan.
“It is a non-negotiable that residents feel safe in their city centre which is why I have already committed £1m to tackle these areas of concern in advance of the LTPT funding and this will be part of our forward planning with South Yorkshire Police and other partners across the city to increase patrol presence. We also continue to work with partners as part of the city centre Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), which gives the police and council more powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.
“Our residents and businesses need to promote the incredible opportunities within Doncaster, to encourage people to use and visit the city centre more. We must all tackle the negative perceptions so I would encourage people to come in and use the city centre and see for themselves the improvements we are making to make visiting Doncaster a unique and enjoyable experience, and a city centre that people want to keep coming back to visit. It is important that we have a thriving city centre that benefits the city as a whole and can help to drive forward Doncaster as the hub in conjunction with our principle town centres.”
Cabinet have approved the LTPT submission to include a focus on safety and cleanliness of the city centre, with the whole first year allocation supporting this priority.
Doncaster District Commander Chief Superintendent Pete Thorp said: “Officers from our dedicated Doncaster Central Neighbourhood Policing Team carry out regular patrols of the city centre and work in conjunction with our partners at City of Doncaster Council to fight crime and keep people safe.
“After recognising concerns around the levels of crime and antisocial behaviour in Doncaster city centre, we have increased the number of officers working in the city centre team, tackling issues directly such as retail crime and allowing more patrolling to take place in order to keep the area a safe and welcoming place for people to live, work, shop and visit.
“The PSPO specifically for the city centre was renewed last year and will remain in place until November 2026. This order gives our officers and partners additional powers to tackle a whole range of crimes, including begging, loitering, drug-taking, and the consumption of alcohol in public areas.
“We continue to work closely with the council and other key agencies to regularly review our patrols. We are always looking at ways to increase our visibility even further and the important survey work undertaken in The Big City Conversation will continue to guide and inform our plans in the future.
“If you see crime in the city centre, please report it to us by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency. We massively value the public’s support and cooperation when it comes to tackling crime and we know that we are stronger when we work together.”
The new city centre masterplan will be created to be launched at the start of 2025, with the hope that it will guide the vision for the city centre over the next 25-years.
The Big City Conversation will be an ongoing conversation with residents and businesses and feedback will continue to be sought throughout the stages of the masterplan.
