WEYMOUTH: After dark

The Weymouth After Dark initiative, funded by Home Office cash, plans to pull all concerned groups together to try and make Weymouth a safer and more successful town at night.

Everyone from residents to pub landlords and from business people to councillors, police and shopkeepers attended a two-session workshop split by a town centre walking tour to debate the problem.

Consultants’ spokesmen Richard Eastham and Alistair Turnham told a packed session at The New Vic that the “reassurance agenda” covered the period 5.30pm-2am.

They said Weymouth doesn’t have a major crime and disorder problem but people have this perception, largely through adverse media coverage.

It was a perception which was “a massive issue, more than anywhere else we have been” for which there was “no magic solution”.

People need to be convinced that there is very little chance of them being involved in a crime or even seeing one, they said.

After Dark will look at why people don’t use the town centre at night and what can be done to change their minds.

One key area identified was bridging the gap between retail closure at 5.30pm and people going out drinking after 8.30pm.

Weymouth strengths included its five kilometers of waterfront, its built environment, good restaurants, traditional pubs, a walkable town centre and pro-active police.

Its weaknesses included limited family-friendly offers and 5-8pm attractions, the uncertainty of the Pavilion site, a reputation for crime and disorder “which doesn’t match reality” and an unwelcoming railway station area.

A negative media approach meant it could take Weymouth years to turn that perception around, they said, but there were huge opportunities.

These included asking shops and coffee houses to stay open later and greater use of the waterfront.

More than 50 workshop members then split into groups to make comments during town centre walkabouts before returning to group debate feedback.

Ideas suggested included more facilities such as ice skating and family eating attractions to encourage family groups into town at night not just during the day.

Increased public lighting to highlight the town centre’s character and architecture was another suggestion as well as one-off lighting events perhaps involving children.

People also suggested turning Westwey Road into a cultural leisure centre, more facilities for 12-16-year-olds and using an empty town centre shop to create a refuge centre where anyone who felt threatened could go.

Weymouth and Portland community safety spokesman Councillor Ian James said: “After Dark gives us an opportunity to examine how changes in the planning, design and management of the town centre can help reduce crime, fear of crime and also encourage residents who don’t currently use it to do so and therefore enjoy what it has to offer.”

Superintendent Dave Thorp of Dorset Police agreed and said the After Dark strategy “will ensure that a night time environment is created which is both safe and enjoyable”.

He added: “We believe the After Dark strategy, where partners develop solutions together, will be effective in further reducing crime and the fear of crime.”

The consultants said that all comments and policy and economic assessments would be collated and brought before a second workshop at the end of April to produce an After Dark strategy and action plan for Weymouth in years to come.

PICTURE: CHANGING PERCEPTIONS - A group debate at the After Dark workshop

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