Wycombe and the area around it have so much going for it – incredible heritage and history, hyper-active arts scene, thriving businesses, beautiful countryside and amazing people – and it is about to get better. We at the High Wycombe Town Committee, on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council, want to make our great town even greater! We want more people frequenting our historic high street and local facilities both from our local area and from further afield.
Let’s boogie!
We want nightlife in Wycombe to come alive. Our town already has great activities and venues which we want more people to enjoy while we strive to attract more events and providers. The ‘Nighttime Economy’ (a posh way of describing fun after-work leisure activities) will be a focus for the High Wycombe Town Committee. We want to have Wycombe buzzing and thriving in the evenings. Whatever you are into – sports, arts, culture, dining, dancing, socialising – we want more of it in Wycombe.
One idea is to focus on the same night every month, enhancing the variety of offerings available on this one night and ensuring everyone feels comfortable and safe in our wonderful town centre. We want to inspire the provision of more activities and create regularity of habit “We always go to Wycombe on (specific day of the month) because …” This will not happen overnight but gradually over the next few years. The council’s aim is to convene, inspire and potentially invest in these activities.
Tourism and business friendly
This investment in the ‘Nighttime Economy’ is only one part of a general plan to get more people coming to the centre of Wycombe. We want local people coming to the centre for their shopping and other services, tourists coming into Wycombe to enjoy our town and its history and we intend to develop our offering for ‘stop-off visitors’ on their way to or from London, Wembley Stadium or Oxford.
Making more of Mayor Making
We are the only place in the world that ‘weighs in’ its mayor! We need to promote our slightly bonkers unique and centuries-old tradition. We need to communicate our uniqueness to people all over the UK and the world. We made the Windsor chair, we built the chair arches and we still sit our mayor in our unique weighing chair at the start of his or her term in office.
Let’s shout about it! Wycombians! Let’s be proud, let’s be loud, let’s be heard!
Cllr Ed Gemmell, Chair of the High Wycombe Town Committee
