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THE EMPTY GALLERY CAFE
Love Camden Road
August 14th 2020
Illustrations made during conversations
Notes on Conversation with Camden Road residents, Traders and interested local people who love Camden Road - 14 August 2020
Introduction from Jon Oram
There is a great deal of love for Camden Road in the community. Create now feel that after 11 years of working together the recent meetings have proven it needs a bit of a boost and they need more support. They also want to ensure that the conversation includes the traders of Camden Road so this brainstorm is about collating everyones feedback and ideas for the future.
Jon posed two questions to the groups which mixed up to answer each question…
Q1. What is Camden Road missing?
Q2. What ideas could be generated to bring life to Camden Road?
Introduction from Jon Oram
There is a great deal of love for Camden Road in the community. Create now feel that after 11 years of working together the recent meetings have proven it needs a bit of a boost and they need more support. They also want to ensure that the conversation includes the traders of Camden Road so this brainstorm is about collating everyones feedback and ideas for the future.
Jon posed two questions to the groups which mixed up to answer each question…
Q1. What is Camden Road missing?
Q2. What ideas could be generated to bring life to Camden Road?
Summary of Breakout Rooms
What is Camden Road missing?
Break out room 1
What is Camden Road missing?
None of us lives on or near Camden Road, though two of us are in central Tunbridge Wells.
Camden Road is a good place to go to meet people for a coffee etc, to buy something you can’t buy anywhere else - most “real” street in Tunbridge Wells.
Years ago there were lots of pubs - lacks pubs…
Has its own identity but missing a real “street scene”
A place where people lived, “really lived”.
Sense of community but that sense of community is “invisible”
Tunbridge Wells doesn’t have a lot of night life apart from The Pantiles.
Could do with a street party type of event.
Isn’t there a grand plan to extend pavements etc?
Find small things to do to draw people down the road - hook in at the top and walk down the road.
Lucy mentioned that in all her years or involvement with Lantern Parade she rarely meets people actually from Camden Road.
Need to reach out to families. Newer flats - a lot of families in difficult circumstances
In Tunbridge Wells lots of “little things” going on - no collaboration. Groups seem to feel threatened by each other rather than prepared to join together
We heard of a National Resilience Study being undertaken by (I think) LSE in which Nourish Foodbank was involved. The report isn’t out yet, but verbal feedback says that TW is very different from other similar towns in that there is a very prosperous large group at one end, a very far from prosperous large group at the other end, and a very slim band of the rest in between.
Lucy spoke of the survey of young people in Kent which she was involved in a few years ago. The largest response came from Tunbridge Wells and the overwhelming comment was “there is nothing to do here”.
Need more networking events for local business.
Break Out Room 4
What is Camden Road missing?
A street festival. Maybe a festival of food. There are Greek, Indian, Italian and French restaurants. Several years ago they had a Christmas Fayre where the road was closed off. Camden road is cosmopolitan and diverse and has independent shops . However they don’t seem to be connected. Several years ago Camden Road was awarded a £10,000 grant but various shop owners fell out as they couldn’t agree as to who should be chair person. Steve Fuller, a photographer has produced some great photographs of the people/businesses in Camden Road (stevefullerphoto.com). The businesses need to see the benefits of linking up with creative ideas, it needs leadership. There appears to be a division between the upper and lower parts of Camden road, everything stops at the traffic lights. There has been talk of Grosvenor Bridge being closed to traffic, a One way system. That might enable restaurants to spill out onto the pavements. The farmers market has recently been taking place in the square outside the Camden Centre but that feels very separate from the lower part of Camden Road. Lower Camden Road needs to have its own identity.
Breakout Room 3
What is Camden Road missing?
- Camden Road is two different roads now – the divide at World of Sewing with barriers prevents some people travelling onto the “lower Camden Road”
- There isnt a feel of continuation because or the barriers but also because the types of traders on Lower Camden Road are quite different to Upper Camden Road. Many are new businesses, attracted by cheap rates and as a result quite a lot of churn
- Many of shops on Camden Road aren’t part of BID as don’t pay rates
- Camden Road can celebrate being one of the most diverse parts of TW today – demographic, culture, diversity, range of shops etc
- Create is quite white, middle-class so may not represent all interests of businesses and community in or near Camden Road e.g. Syrian, Polish, Eritrean etc.
- There is a feeling amongst traders that there is no community collaboration – they want people to SUPPORT LOCAL but they aren’t involved in Xmas lights, they don’t get the coverage that other areas of town get in TW marketing materials
- Camden Road Traders Association – used to work well but people didn’t want to pay e.g. for xmas lights when used to have them
- Paul is the webmaster of camdenroad.org and has been recommending for a while that the website needs a revamp/update – it is all in a CMS so can be done relatively easily
- In past Create have produced and distributed a newsletter via door-drops to 2,000+ houses off Camden Road - this could now be done via social media? Currently Alison McKenzie manages the Create FB page but there is no activity through Camden Road FB Page – suggest asking Maria who manages this? Used to have vinyl sticker in door for members of CREATE
What ideas could be generated to bring life to Camden Road?
Break out room 2
What ideas could be generated to bring life to Camden Road?
Something is needed to suck people down to the ‘other end’ of Camden Road.
Tunbridge Wells and tourism. Camden Road has an alternative feeling - other places are more successful (Brighton Lanes eg, Hastings Old Town, parts of St Leonards) - does TW get many tourists? Pantiles and the Georgian/Regency aspects of the town draw the tourists.
Camden Road’s appeal is local. The road needs something that keeps people returning - something that changes - the shops etc are mostly specialist places where you come once in a while to get something specific.
Great restaurants but nowhere to drink before and after.
Could there be markets? Pop up shops? Depends on private landlords.
Could we get the Christmas lights all the way down the road? Could there be - places for people to sit, planters? Initiative in a residential street in Brussels where “mini parks” the size of a parking space are being created - plants, table and benches, where local people can sit (socially-distanced of course)
Get RTWT involved - they receive a business levy from all the traders and should be spending money on Camden Road. Lobby RTWT and local councillors of the 2 wards. BID does have money.
Jo mentioned idea linked with Lantern Parade of a “treasure trail” down the road.
We need a Community Arts project - something to boost local morale - Jeremy said anything focussed on the healthy living side of things would be favoured because national Government is pushing that.
Breakout Room
What ideas could be generated to bring life to Camden Road?Set up a Retailers Association a get together of local businesses. Lower Camden Road is quite bohemian. Street festival/music. Have a regular market like the French markets or Portobello Road in London, an up -market boot fair. This would be very different from the food markets etc in The Pantiles. We need the local council’s support to develop Camden Road.
Breakout Room 1
What ideas could be generated to bring life to Camden Road?
- Needs a heart – Camden Road Quarter? Independent streets united incl eg Monson Rd too?
- “Stories of Camden Road” – share voices, one community
- Be trailblazers – eco lights, places to sit out, electric car-charging points, Trees and flowers
- Camden Road IS a destination – you can support local and get all you need – bakery, grocers, butcher, restaurants, specialist niche shops
- Xmas lights are needed to make it welcoming and warm
- Utilise existing spaces more e.g. Market Square, Care Parks, Grass area opposite St Barnabas, use the empty shops to hold activities e.g. Imaginarium events
- Tell a story and take people on a journey e.g. Art along the road, display cultures, use storyboards – create a trail for people to take part in
- Evening activity – Make fun a part of it e.g. bijoux outdoor cinema in green space, Mardi Gras with Il Vesuvio, cabaret or open mic in restaurants, walking performance – rotation around stopping for a drink or course at different locations
- Scratch pantomime
- Actors in character
- Real people, real lives
- Make street one way in summer – 6 weeks of outdoor living
- 15 minute city living https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/How-to-build-back-better-with-a-15-minute-city?language=en_US
Comments in chat – summing up what participants would like to change
- Camden Road Quarter - destination, community, collaboration, Tell the story
- Get your money's worth from the BID
- Camden Road needs a real "street scene"
- Encourage repeat visits - something that changes, places to browse, places to sit
- Engagement / economics/ Whats in it for them
- yes BID - lights, food market, art
- Something to encourage 'dwell time' rather than coming for one thing and then immediately leaving
- Can we get the Christmas lights down to Quarry Road????
- Find the interesting and unique aspects and facts about the area and play on them
- All about breaking down barriers, barriers to not going to 'lower' Camden Road, barriers to not using Camden Rd for nighttime entertainment, breaking barriers between the multiple cultures in Camden Road
- write to Times of Tw about lights
- Get to know your elected members, and petition them. Regularly
- Something that brings the local businesses and the community together
- A light face lift to entice people down from Upper Camden Rd. Made more of the BID funds to help encourage a Love CAMDEN ROAD, SUPPORT LOCAL feel. Appealing to more and more people WFH
- What about the community art project we once thought of - the mosaic?
- stuart - Town Forum ….
- So much enthusiasm for using the community to work together. Bringing new cultural activities to Camden Road.
- Use other spaces not known or under-utilised - grass space opposite school, Car parks, Market square, empty shops
- Ride on wave of "Support local" movement that has come about since COVID19 and get people to know what is IN Camden Road and who you are - tell your story
- Could we do another play in a Big White Tent??
- as the council want to be cultural centre its what they should support --- ask your councillor to support it
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