What Centre Stage tells us about the future of our high street

What a weekend!

Richmond town centre was buzzing. Shops and restaurants were busy, children were performing theatre, skating and making art on George Street, musicians were playing on stage at Whittaker Avenue, Simon Callow was performing The Oracle, Lord Hendy brought his Routemaster bus for children to play on and adults to reminisce, and Orange Tree puppets floated down the street.

We were lucky with the weather too, which certainly helped bring people out. There was a real carnival atmosphere. Most importantly, people were having fun.

For me, that is what a great high street should feel like.

When culture, community and business come together, our high streets can flourish.

Last year, Richmond Council launched Centre Stage as a one-day event to bring the town centre to life. The results were really encouraging. Footfall increased by around 30%, while retailers, pubs and restaurants reported increases in trade of between 30% and 45%.

This year, working with Richmond BID and the Orange Tree Theatre, we wanted to build on that success and make Centre Stage bigger and longer - bringing the Riverside and Hill Rise into the weekend as well as the traditional High Street.

The Orange Tree brought so much of what made the weekend special: creativity, community theatre and the opportunity for local people, particularly children and young people, to be part of something happening right in the heart of their town. That sense of theatre spilling out into the streets was wonderful to see.

On Friday evening, the Riverside became a stage. On Saturday, George Street and Whittaker Avenue were filled with performances, activities and entertainment. On Sunday, the focus moved to Hill Rise.

We don’t have the data from this year yet, so it is too early to know what the economic impact has been. But you could see people were there. They were stopping, watching, meeting friends, bringing their children, visiting shops and restaurants – and laughing.

And that matters.

The future of our high streets cannot simply be about more shops. Shopping habits have changed, and people have more choice than ever about where and how they spend their money. The high streets that thrive will be those that give people reasons to visit, reasons to stay and reasons to come back.

That is why I believe so strongly in bringing businesses, culture, community organisations and residents together to shape the future of our town centre.

And I think Centre Stage gives us a glimpse of what that future could look like.

Everyone I speak to is ambitious for Richmond town centre, and I certainly am. We have already started work on the next stage – thinking about our play space, town square, George Street, seating and wayfinding, alongside the things that matter every day: clean streets, good public toilets and feeling safe.

But this isn’t something the Council can or should do on its own.

We want to hear from residents, businesses, community groups and everyone who uses our town centre about what would make it better, more welcoming and more enjoyable. There is a huge amount of creativity, energy and affection for Richmond, and I want us to harness that together.

Share your feedback on Centre Stage

Centre Stage showed what can happen when we bring the different parts of our town centre together.

Now we need to build on that energy and create a high street that we can all be proud of.

Share this