Help design the future of Charlbury - see events 22nd Feb

Thu 24 Apr 2014, 16:33

Spotted a tweet from this website on my feed - has some good ideas more oriented to rural locations. Perhaps worth a look ! rural-design.org/resources

Mon 3 Mar 2014, 19:18

Patrick, I think you will be amazed at the ideas that came out of our workshop. Everyone learned so much and had fun. Our picture minutes will be shared very soon on charlbury.info....

Thu 27 Feb 2014, 10:17

I agree, car clubs or car sharing could be something to be expanded as one difficulty is the lack of buses in the evenings, however car use will 'naturally' rise with a rise in the use of/visitors to a location and I believe it would be better to have parking in place but to integrate in bike spaces, something which is lacking, so as to not put off people coming for evening classes. Now that I mention it, something like spaces for bikes could really make a huge difference as the central location could see more people using bikes for short trips to and from town and transform Charlbury into a very active location.

Fri 21 Feb 2014, 21:01

Glad people have started to engage with this big topic that could really help make Charlbury get buzzier over the next few years.

As to underground car parks, the one thing that makes cars proliferate is encouraging them. We need to find ways to offer alternatives too that mean that the cars don't need to come in to Charlbury - more pedestrians and bikes, car clubs....

Fri 21 Feb 2014, 10:59

For me the centre of Charlbury physically is the crossroads at the Corner House, economically it's the train station and emotionally it's the community. As ever the future issues in the heart of Charlbury will involve conflicts between the car/ pedestrian and commercial/ residential uses. What's clear however is that the population is well tuned in and passionate about the Town. Charlbury works because it has evolved under the watchful eye of its resident community. Yes the pavements could be wider, there could be more parking, street lighting and better signage but is it essential to future-proof us, perhaps, perhaps not. In my opinion what is key when looking contemporary planning/ urban design philosophy is seeing what others are doing and to test it against our situation for example home-zones/ shared use pavements, arguably we already have them. What sets Charlbury apart from our neighbours, personally I think it's the balance. Therefore what's crucial in any development plan is making sure any measures maintain this balance, rather than tipping the scales in one direction which makes big steps very difficult to take without very careful consideration.

Thu 20 Feb 2014, 20:44

The cafe in the Deli works very well with the good selection of freshly prepared food.We serve light breakfast,morning coffee,lunches and afternoon teas. Our homemade produce is all available in the cafe.Today we had 16 very happy walkers in for tea.Pretty good for a small cafe!! The only items we no longer stock are the very slow lines but im always willing to stock items asked for.We are adding new lines all the time. This week we have got loose cocktail nuts and snacks from the deli counter..Tasters tomorrow !!
As for missing out on Wilderness weekend we are not allowed to open the cafe on sundays due to the planning regs.
The centre of Charlbury needs some shoppers car parking spaces and people to remember to come down into the town to support their local shops

Thu 20 Feb 2014, 15:54

To me the centre of Charlbury is from the Coop down towards to the pubs, post office etc. With regards to improvements I can think of a few:

- We have a number of empty shops (now including the paint shop that has closed) it would be good if we…

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Thu 20 Feb 2014, 14:25

Jean: Despite my distance, it has been only a matter of months since I was last in the town and less that a year since I moved away and I do enjoy keeping tabs as to what is going on :) As you have mentioned in your examples, there is a wealth of events and things to do in the town, and while this is all well and good, an identity of the town of which residents past and present can be proud, I believe there is a potential to attain more and to further improve the local economy. To both increase town harmony and bring more people to the town, stepping up the number of events, especially things which take place over the weekend, could lead to Charlbury being even more of a place on the map where I can envision people coming to B&B to escape city life for a weekend, using Charlbury's biggest asset - its rail link.

As for the underground car parking, I do think this is something that should at least be considered - the town already has a lack of parking and when the community centre does come, a lack of somewhere to park for those coming from further away could be the small but significant factor that makes the new building either a success or a failure. From people coming into town to attend a class at the new centre to those visiting Charlbury for a farmers market, parking space is a must, and it would be a shame to put people off coming if the message of "Charlbury is a great place, but there's nowhere to park!" starts getting spread about!

Wed 19 Feb 2014, 23:58

Patrick, you have been away too long. We have up to date films at Choc, Charlbury's own cinema on Sunday evenings once a month, then Classical music to Comedy provided by Choc Live five times a year, sometimes in co-operation with Oxfordshire's Good Night Out, with visitors from surrounding villages and from as far afield as Thame. Charlbury Amateur dramatic society produce two excellent productions each year over four days. Charlbury Society have monthly talks with eminent speakers, all these very well supported. There are quizzes galore, both weekly and some for Charities. The list of things to do here is endless, not including Riverside, the Beer Festival and Street Fair and not forgetting Wilderness the four day extravaganza in Cornbury Park in August for which Charlbury residents have heavily discounted tickets. There is cricket and football with coaching for young people. The Farmers Markets on the Playing Close and, I could go on. You can see the lists on Events on the website.
An underground Car Park? No one has thought of that

Wed 19 Feb 2014, 11:44

Patrick, thanks for this. www.pps.org/ looks like an interesting site which others might look at.

Sorry you can't be with us on Saturday. 40 participants so far - we have room for more if people still want to join in! Just let me know so we have enough lunch..

Tue 18 Feb 2014, 11:00

Greetings from far-away İstanbul. Despite my distance from my home of 18 years, I could not help but give my opinions for the future of Charlbury, and hope that my interest in the growing 'Placemaking' trend can be used to help boost the town.

My magic wand would be used…

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Sun 9 Feb 2014, 12:29

Ever fancied yourself as a town planner?! If you had a magic wand to change Charlbury what would you do? How would you answer the following questions?
- where is the centre of Charlbury and why?
- who do we make Charlbury fit for the 21st century?
- how can the community better serve its different constituents?