It cannot be denied that the road closure for the Jazz Festival caused long tailbacks and disruption in George Lane and the east and west A4 approaches. What is now known is how much the closure cost some of the High Street’s independent traders.
One local motorist writing to the local paper complained of gridlock approaching the town from the west: “We parked a mile out and walked in past lines of fuming drivers, many of whom turned round. Is that good for business?”
And once in town, he found the High Street emptier than usual and nothing happening to merit its closure.
Marlborough News Online understands that there is a feeling among staff at Wiltshire Council that the total closure of the High Street for the Jazz Festival cannot happen in the same way in future years.
This week’s Marlborough Town Council meeting heard complaints from High Street traders about the effects the closure of the High Street for the Jazz Festival had on their trading.
David Dudley, of David Dudley Jewellery, told councillors that ‘about £150,000 worth of business’ was lost over the weekend of the Festival: “I was down 80 per cent.”
Bob Holman of the Food Gallery, has surveyed about 50 independent traders on or just adjacent to the High Street and many said they had experienced similar downturns in business.
He broke even over the weekend – which is not, he says, what he is in business for. He emphasises that the one question no one would answer at the Town Council meeting was why the High Street had been closed.
“Why not close it for the Festival’s evening events – allowing traders to have a normal trading day and customers do their normal shopping?”
“We don’t hate the Jazz Festival – far from it: it gives the town great exposure – it’s an internationally known event – we want to work with the organisers.”
There are, he thinks, alternative ways to organise the Festival: why not, for instance, close the Parade car park and have it as a food market – with a bandstand at one side?
Paul Collis of the High Street’s Valentiner Designs, told Marlborough News Online he wants the answers to three simple questions: one – does the bandstand [opposite Pino’s] need to be where it is? Two – why, if the High Street is closed, isn’t the bandstand in the middle of the High Street? And three – does the High Street need to close before five o’clock on the Saturday?
“We all love the Jazz Festival – we wouldn’t want anyone to take away the Jazz Festival – but perhaps the Jazz Festival could become broader with other genres of music to attract the crowds.”
And he notes that the High Street was not closed for the opening ceremony outside the Castle & Ball early on the Friday evening which would be the most appropriate time. Although there was some uncertainty as to where the traffic and the crowds were supposed to go.
Valentiner Designs is in the centre of the north side of the High Street, but Paul Collis wants a greater spread of events along the length of the High Street rather than so much being concentrated at the east end – around the Town Hall.
The other question traders are asking is if there is a safety problem with people crossing the High Street between jazz venues, why is the High Street not closed for market days?
The road closure this year was made more problematic because an ‘administrative error’ stopped parking on George Lane on the Wednesday before the Jazz Festival. And the town was littered with more traffic cones than people had ever seen before.
It did bring to mind Prime minister John Major’s dislike of traffic cones and his notion of a ‘cones hotline’ for people to report unnecessary traffic cones.
At the end of the question time at the Town Council meeting at least one councillor realised that talks needed to be held with all interested parties. But since the last chairman left the Festival, no one has wanted to talk about road closures.
Councillor Fogg, the festival’s organiser, told councillors and the protesters that if the High Street was not closed “you’d have no Jazz Festival, it’s as simple as that.” The traders, and many other residents of Marlborough who, whilst being very supportive of the Jazz Festival and what it brings to the town might disagree, as no reason for the road closure was apparent.
“I thoroughly support the Jazz Festival” stated David Dudley at last Monday’s (28 July) Council Meeting “but we’ve got to sit down with the Festival Committee and discuss it”.
