Canterbury regeneration scheme leads to sharp footfall rise

The extension of the £500k improvements on King’s Mile, Canterbury, to the Borough and Northgate areas of the city has resulted in a sharp increase in footfall, according to council research.

A new survey carried out earlier this month found that overall pedestrian traffic in the area has risen by 20% since before the work took place.

Consumer satisfaction levels have risen as a results of the enhancements. The choice of restaurants, cafés and shops in the area was rated as either very or quite good by 76% of respondents, an increase of 21% since the survey was last carried out in January.

Cllr Ben Fitter-Harding, chairman of Canterbury City Council’s regeneration and property committee, said: “The aim of the scheme was to get more people into The Borough and Northgate to experience the wonderful variety of independent shops we have in the King’s Mile.

“Palace Street saw the same benefits when we completed that phase of the project in 2008 and we were very hopeful the same would happen now as well.”

He added: “What we’ve seen so far exceeds our expectations, with a big rise in footfall and such high satisfaction levels.”

The city council’s £500k improvement scheme involved a narrowing of roads to single-way traffic flow, in addition to new road surfacing, street lights, benches, planters and cycle racks.

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