Plan to ban cars from Norwich Tombland

Tombland - car ban plan?

SARAH BREALEY
29 November 2009 11:33



A fresh push to tackle traffic problems in one of the city's most historic areas has been launched, which could see cars banned from Tombland.

The city council wants to improve the historic city square, which forms part of the setting of Norwich Cathedral. It is suggesting that traffic should be reduced to make the area more attractive and also reduce the high accident rate.

The views are part of a response to a major Norwich transport strategy drawn up by the county council, which has been welcomed by Norwich City Council. But they want to see some more improvements.

And today, leading clergyman the Dean of Norwich, the Very Rev Graham Smith, called for radical action in Tombland - and said other city centre streets should also be closed to traffic.

Joanne Deverick, transport manager for the city council, told a council executive meeting that Tombland was a key area which needed to be looked at.

She said: “It would never be the intention to stop buses using Tombland - that would be essential.

“Ideally we would like to see cars and private traffic banned from Tombland. That would be difficult because it is such a key route from the north of the city. We would like to see it handled better. At the moment it is a square with a road diagonally across it. It is an important area and we would like to see improvement. There is a significant accident record in Tombland both during the day and at night-time.”

Council spokeswoman Amy Lyall said after the meeting that a complete closure was unlikely, but that the council would like to reduce the amount of traffic and cars passing through.

It is not the first time the idea has been proposed - it was first suggested in 1947. A previous Norwich transport strategy drawn up by the county council in 2006 suggested closing Tombland at evenings and weekends.

However, some traders have day expressed concerns about any moves to close Tombland to cars.

Maxine Howard, from Howard and Son fishmongers, on Fye Bridge Street, said: “It is a stupid idea. If I have to do any deliveries nearby it already takes about four times longer than it used to, because they have closed off Princes Street and St Georges. I wouldn't like to see any traffic reduction on Tombland.”

Jan Scott, general manager of the King of Hearts, also on Fye Bridge Street, said: “If they closed the road we might as well close our business. We rely on traffic coming from the city centre. When they closed Wensum Street temporarily in the spring it decimated our business.”

But John Freeman, owner of Tombland Bookshop, said: “In principle it would be a good thing, but in practice I don't know that it would make much difference. The problem is that there are fewer and fewer shops left in Tombland. It has changed into a night-time drinking area so I am not sure that pedestrianising it would help.”

Norfolk County Council spokesman John Birchall said: “We agree it would be desirable to make the most of this historic area; the problem is the lack of alternative routes, especially for buses. We are hoping the overall strategy will have a significant impact in reducing traffic in Tombland.”

What do you think? Write a letter to the Evening News or email sarah.brealey@archant.co.uk.



The Dean of Norwich has called for a radical approach to keeping cars out of the city.

The Very Rev Graham Smith wants to see the closure of Tombland to traffic and wants to go much further, closing some of the city's other streets too.

He said: “I think we should give back the city to the pedestrians. I hope we can do something in that direction and have a people-centred not a traffic-centred city. It would take some quite radical traffic management planning.

“We need to and close of the medieval streets and spaces to traffic and return them to pedestrians, though I suppose there would need to be access for businesses and residents. The relentless increase in motor vehicles has to be addressed in the Norwich context.

“I would hope the city council would be brave enough to introduce some really quite radical restrictions on vehicle access and encourage people to move around on foot.

And he said he would be keen to see traffic taken out of Tombland, to return it to its original purpose as an open space and meeting place.

He said: “Tombland is a historic space which has been ruptured by running an arterial route through it. If we could get to the point where the road was closed and we could recover it as a place where people could gather and have a café culture, I think that would be a huge benefit.

“It would be good for businesses and good for us as it would attract more visitors to the cathedral.”

He said that in his previous home of Leeds, pedestrianising parts of the city centre had rejuvenated it and encouraged new stores to move in.

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