Here's what you've told us so far:
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I've been living in Thornbury all my life, it's my home. What I would most like to see is a few more shops for the youth, such as a few more clothes shops or surf shops such as Free Spirit or O'Neill, because there's not much for the kids at school. We could also have a car show - real nice cars for show for everyone.
A return of the mop fair and pageant would be a fantastic idea! Really don't know why these things were done away with in the first place - I had great fun as a child - and would love to have things like this to take my children to. The lack of things like this is a large contributer to our desicion to move out of the area.
I like the Thornbury in Bloom and the friendly service in the shops. It is a very pleasant high street with a variety of builidng styles but it would be better if the car did not dominate the town centre so much. I would like to see more tables and chairs outside and also for the high street to be narrower so that traffic was only allowed the travel through it in one direction i.e. single lane.
I love living in Thornbury and think it has a good selection of shops for its size. However, I would love to see a better supermarket to compete with Tesco. The only other one at present seems to be slowly dying. I would love a Waitrose or M&S Simply Food. I think that Thornbury could sustain either of these.
I really like the wide range of activities available for people of all ages - something for everyone.
What I would really like to see is more small food shops in the town centre. I know there are one or two but, for example, as a vegan, for locally grown produce I have to wait for the Farmers Market which is great but sadly only once a fortnight.
I would like to see a real Saturday market held in the High Street which could, for the duration of the market be closed to traffic. This could be done without significant traffic problems and would not only raise the profile of the town but also bring a lot of trade to the High Street. There are many examples of the success of similar ventures including Lymington amonst others.
Thornbury is a great place and I have lived here for over 30 years. However the town centre is dying on its feet.Until someone with some vision gets involved it will gradually decline to the point at which hardly anyone visits. Have you seen it on a Saturday afternoon recently? It cannot compete with the Mall, or Yate, so it needs to offer something different. Take a look at the range of shops in Tetbury, Cirencester etc. Someone involved in the centre said to me: "Wouldn't it be good to get someone like Argos into the empty unit opposite the card shop?" NO! this would just attract the wrong sort of shops, we cannot be a mini Cribbs so let's compete with a different proposition. Will anyone listen? Will anyone make a controversial decision? No. I don't see anyone with the vision to make the tough decisions that will be required if Thornbury is to flourish as a town centre.
Thornbury is a very pleasant place to live in - lots of facilities, good shops, friendly people. Two things I'd like to see more of - live music, and allotments!
Strong community groups with wide range of activities. Thornbury in Bloom. Allotments - we need more. Wickwar council bought some land. Opportunities for smaller retail businesses.
The summer hanging baskets are great, and I also think winter flower baskets would be good, more trees in the Mundy Playing fields, more outdoor cafe areas, more small individual shops and less chain shops. It would be good to refurbish the art studio at The Chantry for young people to use in the school holidays to develop their creative potential.
Love the free parking, summer flower baskets, Christmas lights and Christmas fair. Would like to see lower shop rents so properties not left empty and fewer charity shops.
I'd like to see the high street becoming more pedestrian/cycle friendly. Alternative suggestions are for example 1) The middle bit could be closed off to traffic. 2) Access could be restricted to deliveries and cycles only. 3) Traffic calming measures could be introduced. I'd also like to see more cycling provision, currently there is only 1 dedicated cycle path which is along the old railway track. We should encourage cycling especially in a town the size of Thornbury which could be well suited to it. Small changes could be made for relatively little cost, for example, the old access to the bottom of the high street used to run along Pullins Green and St Johns street from the roundabout at the Plough. This is blocked to traffic but could be modified to allow a cycle through route to Gillingstool.
I love the fact that Thornbury is a distinct small town. It has great potential and appears to be on the up with new reataurants etc. It could do with a few more interesting shops! More trees and the High Street pedestrianised would help.
I am very impressed by the wonderful floral displays in Thornbury during the summer. I travel down High Street every day to go to work and the flowers are a joy. I am a member of a dance troupe and we have been danced at several festivals, in and around Bristol, throughout the Spring and Summer, and we have bookings well into the autumn and winter. All the festivals we have visited are great fun, vibrant and colourful. Many are a celebration of different styles of music and dance. Something similar in Thornbury would be a great boost to the area and would bring it alive.
Love the little garden centre, the pub signs, the fact it still has a hardware shop, the allotments; the variety of buildings. Would like to see more specialist shops, more art galleries, more antique shops and junk shops (not more charity shops), more reason to go down the hill towards the Castle, more good restaurants. I recently spent a pleasant couple of hours in Chepstow just looking around the antique shops, second-hand book shop, etc and experiencing it as a place. I also bought things as well but this last fact is not the reason why I remember it or the reason that I intend going back again soon.
I've lived in Thornbury since the age of 4 and have very fond memories of the summer carnival, sadly people lost interest and it stopped. I think it would be great to bring this back again. We desperately need smaller clothes and food shops too.
Thornbury is a fantastic place for families. The town has a safe and friendly atmosphere, which is a rare quality these days. I would like to see the shopping experience grow to become more interesting - out with the boring chain stores and their Chinese goods and in with the locally produced products in locally owned businesses, it will revitalise the local economy. Please keep the motorists out of the high street, we need to encourage more walking and cycling. To do this, the roadspace should be re-apportioned in many of the roads to give wider pavements (e.g. the town-end of Gloucester Road). Narrower road widths reduces vehicle speeds therefore improving conditions for cyclists- the council should always consider the vulnerable road-user above the private motorist and always build in accordance with appropriats guidelines. For example Cycle Friendly Infrastructure http//www.cyclingengland.co.uk/viewer.php?fd76
I moved to Thornbury just before Christmas 2002 from Bucks and think it is a very clean and friendly town. Love the flowers and the Christmas lights. Unfortunately some shops have closed in that time and remained empty - so what have the landlords gained? Nothing - they have just lost the income they did have. We do not need more estate agents, building societies or charity shops. Keep the parking free, and only consider closing the middle of the High Street, other than for disabled access, on a Saturday, say. It was too many of the wrong shops, and permanent pedestrianising of High Wycombes High Street that started its decline as the morning commuters couldnt go through so passing trade dried up. I would also like to see some of the things that older residents talk about, such as Mop Fairs. ps isnt one traffic warden, sorry, parking attendant, enough, why do we seem to have a plague of them now?
Echoing the thoughts of others, I too would like to see the High Street made one-way. At the same time close off Chapel Street and fully pedestrianise St. Mary Street, and build the proposed Arts Centre on St. Mary Street carpark! (South Glos already own the land!) Extra parking could be facilitated in the High Street, by allowing vehicles to park nose to the kerb down both sides. This in turn would put the shoppers and visitors to our town in the High Street, where we would then have smaller independent traders happy to pay their rents. St. Mary Street would then be an ideal location for a Saturday Market, street events, etc. So now then lets see if Mayor Griffin and the Town Councillors have any forward thinking, and could be well remembered for saving our town!
I have lived in Thornbury for over 30 years and have seen a once vibrant community slowly decline losing many of its fine shops in the High Street and elsewhere as the supermarkets gradually squeeze them out. We now have no butcher, only 2 bakeries, 2 florists, 1 greengrocer where there used to be several of each. We do have a plethora of charity shops while what used to be Liptons is still empty after years of disuse. We need to reinstate long defunct functions like the Mop Fair, Thornbury Carnival and the like. I still like living in Thornbury - it has a lot of offer but badly needs re-vitalising. It doesnt look like the present Town Council will give much of a lead having presided over the decline for the past 20 years.
Thornbury is a great place to live. However the mop fair etc. have gone because there are no volunteers to organise them. The same relatively small group of people have organised community events since I came to Thornbury in 1982. They are now getting too old to take on the work. Thornbury Lights need new agile helpers. Thornbury in Bloom would like younger members to bring new exciting ideas. Where are the new younger volunteers!
I love the small independent shops and businesses, though sadly they are fast disappearing since Tesco opened. I love the quiet, cleanliness and lack of traffic of the pedestrian area and I strongly believe the town would benefit enormously from through traffic being kept out of the High Street, except for buses. In a recent survey 85% of shoppers said they would prefer this, so presumably they would do more shopping in Thornbury.
Representing Thornbury Museum I would like to see more action on making Thornbury and the surrounding area presented as attractive to tourists. The Town Hall, TIC, do a splendid job, but they do not have much to publicise. Our local castle is not open to the public. The power station is closing down, the AA can only find the 7x2 bridges to publicise in one of their books. Our area is usually described as nice, quiet, sleepy, pretty, and is somewhere between Bristol and the Cotswolds, both very tourist-worthy destinations, but what about our bit in between. We have a town Heritage trail, I believe there is a new project to publicise St Marys as a tourist destination. We have pretty countryside, villages, and plenty of individual shops, pubs, walks etc. Each village has something of interest to a visitor. It is very hard work to organise publicity, and more money is needed no doubt, but time and effort are also needed. The existing leaflets are not enough, the TIC and Town Council need more support, more to publicise, and South Glos needs to have a realistic tourism budget. At the museum we would like to be able to talk to other tourism and visitor related organisations locally, help each other all through the year and not just at special occasions. How about it Thornbury Chamber, help us all please, but do think about Thornbury as part of the area from the Glos border right down to Severn Beach. Three cheers for MyThornbury, what did we do without it! Sandi Shallcross, Thornbury Museum.
I really like the friendly nature of the majority of people in the area together with the many green areas surrounding the town. I dislike the excessive speed of traffic travelling away from the high street on Gloucester Road and I'd like to see the high street made traffic free on weekends with street markets introduced like those seen in St.Nics market in Bristol around Christmas time.
To survive Thornbury needs to appeal to a different clientele than visits The Mall. Small specialist shops run by enthusiasts could revitalise the town. However these need both lower rents, and the support of Thornbury residents who may need to pay a little more for the priviledge of a local supplier. How many people visited the Art Shop on the High Street or the Bike Shop on Castle Street before they closed due to lack of custom?
A couple of people have commented on cars in Thornbury High Street and want to stop parking there. I would just like to say that as a disabled person parking in the High Street is a must, as without that people with restricted mobility could not visit the bank etc.
Thornbury has too many of the same types of shops like charity shops and restaurants. What the town needs and wants is an undercover shopping centre like the Mall at Cribbs Causeway, but smaller. It also needs a bigger funfair in the high street for the Christmas lights switch-on.
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