IT WAS all the rage in the 60s and 70s. London Street in Norwich was the first, but soon the idea was repeated everywhere. It was simple really, give shoppers more freedom to roam by banning cars.
In the 70s and 80s, towns and cities across the country were re-directing cars away from their most popular shopping areas and paving over the roads. People could roam about, shopping bags in hand, to their hearts’ content, without the worry of being run over or choking on exhaust fumes.
But with the gradual decline of local high streets and an increase in online shopping and out-of town-shopping parks, some places are starting to feel as though the idea is doing more harm than good.
One of these places is the south Wales town of Bridgend, where a number of streets were pedestrianised in 2004, leading to years worth of debate, and claims from local business owners of a drop in footfall in the time since.
The topic once again reared its head in Bridgend in January, 2025, after a motion on proposals for the partial de-pedestrianisation of some town centre streets was backed unanimously by members of the council, to support town centre traders – with a council spokesperson adding that work had already begun to identify a way to create better access to the area.
Business owners in places such as Queen Street, Dunraven Place, and Market Street, where the roads only open to traffic between 6pm and 10am, now say a change can’t come soon enough for them with the move deemed “essential” if they are to see regeneration in the coming years.
Nicola Venetia Steele has owned her boutique clothing store in Bridgend for three years and says that re-opening the area to traffic would give traders a massive boost, drawing customers back in with easier access to the shops.
She said: “Retail needs to be easy access. If you make it difficult people won’t come in to towns and they’re going to go online – where they pedestrianise the towns there’s no traffic going through and the towns are dying.
“Before the road closes at 10am in the morning it’s packed. It’s bustling and there’s cars everywhere and we are busy because people can jump out of their cars. As soon as the barriers go up it’s dead.
“I would be happy for them to open half of the town so we have traffic through, that would help. I’d be happier if they would open the whole town all the time, or I would also be happy to compromise and we have the bollards up 12pm to 3pm.”
Speaking from his shop in Dunraven Place, Pursuit Outdoors and Military Supplies, Mike Smith said that when the roads were opened in the evenings the town centre of Bridgend came to life with people attending local bars and restaurants, with the same thing now desired by shop owners for the day.
He said: “Bridgend is a vibrant place in the evening when the barriers go down, so why can’t we just do that in the day time as there’s no difference. The barriers are down, cars can come in, they park up to go and have some food or go to a bar with no dramas.
“I think it would make a massive difference if we were to let the bollards go down, and even just try it. Keep the bollards down let the cars come in and see what happens.”
Local florist Marilyn Barry has worked in Bridgend for 40 years and seen the town both with and without pedestrianisation, though says she now feels it is time to open the roads back up.
She said: “It’s absolutely essential to the town to encourage people in. The bollards are down in the evening and all the restaurants are thriving, but it’s up in the day and people can’t get to the shops, so it’s absolutely essential.
She went on: “It’s human nature, if someone wants to come shopping they want to come into the town. Everybody complains about it and they say they hardly ever come in because they can’t drive in.”
Local taxi driver Tim Daniels added: “I think it would be helpful to the businesses and, more importantly, for the elderly people and people who are physically challenged to get into town.
“From my point of view, I’m having to drop people outside of town so they can walk in. It’s really good being pedestrianised but I think it should have access for everyone, and I think bringing life and flow back through the centre of town will probably liven the businesses and stop the shops from being closed.”
Speaking at a recent full council meeting in January, 2025, Cllr Ian Williams, of Oldcastle, said everyone he had spoken to in the town was “desperate” for the bollard to remain down and for traffic to be reintroduced with one hour, or half-hour parking allowed for shoppers on the roads.
He also quoted safety figures which said there had been no accidents on these streets in the last three years during the times when it was open to traffic between 6pm and 10am, despite these being the hours where most people made their way to and from work or school.
He said: “It is now essential that traffic is safely re-introduced to these three town centre roads to help revitalise the town. I was happy to see the motion passed unanimously for cabinet to look into this and implement the will of the council.”
A Bridgend council spokesman said: “The council has been working on this issue for some time, and work has already been commissioned to help identify a way to create better access for partially introducing motor vehicles and alternative transport such as bicycles to Queen Street, Dunraven Place and Market Street.
“We want this to remain safe for drivers and pedestrians as well as beneficial for local businesses, and have been preparing to hold a public consultation outlining how we intend to deliver this by amending the existing traffic orders for the town centre. Look out for further details soon and the results of the consultation will then help to determine our final approach to this issue.”
