Welcome To Plymouth?
Because you never get a second chance to make a first impression
Today’s story has been prompted by a combination of this week’s article in the Plymouth Herald about the sorry state of the “Welcome To Plymouth” sign on the Hoe and a visit to Plymouth Coach Station at 4.15 this morning.
My advice.
Don’t visit either.
(The Herald website or the Coach Station, that is)
Let me sum up the first story.
Way back in 2021 (I know it’s only four years ago) the then leader of the City Council, Nick Kelly, was “thrilled” to have his picture taken with our newest landmark, adding that “This magnificent and prominent welcome sign will hopefully reinforce civic pride in our beautiful city.”
This week, less than four years later, it looked like this…
Now, Nick would almost certainly blame the current Labour dominated council, that’s what he does, pretty much all day long on social media.
BUT
The problem goes much deeper than that.
It comes back to Nick’s statement about “civic pride,” which I wrote about just last week.
Where’s the love?
Where’s the deep-rooted feeling that Plymouth is a fantastic place to live and work?
Earlier today, I popped into Jacka Bakery on the Barbican and, just a couple of doors down, bumped into a friend and his wife making an early start on the Bank Holiday weekend sitting outside the Dolphin. Two venerable institutions that I encourage you to pay a visit to.
Jacka and the Dolphin, not my friend and his wife ;)
We discussed this very topic—the lack of pride in our city at the very top.
In response to the Plymouth Herald’s article about the state of the Hoe sign:
“A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “We know that the Welcome to Plymouth sign isn’t looking as tidy as it should but don’t worry, we’re scheduling in a spring clean so that it’s ready for the summer months.”
Hello!
Plymouth City Council, you might have missed this, but summer is already here, or at least the summer programme of activities.
In the next few weeks alone, we have the VE Day Celebrations, Britain's Ocean City Running Festival, Pirates Weekend, three visiting cruise ships (one of the very reasons the sign was put up, to welcome people coming in from the sea), and a whole lot more, including two Bank Holiday weekends when visitors will be flocking to Plymouth.
So, bearing all this in mind, the BIG question should be:
Why was the sign allowed to deteriorate to this degree in the first place?
But it’s not just the sign on the Hoe.
Have you been to Plymouth Coach Station?
I was there in the early hours of this morning to collect someone from an overnight coach, and it was scary.
If you don’t know where it is, it’s sandwiched between the lower end of Cornwall Street and Mayflower Street.
Around the back of the shops with the bins and an overwhelming smell of food waste and urine.
Can you imagine the first impression visitors to our city get when they rock up on the National Express?
It’s not a lot better at the Train Station.
I’ve lost track of how long we’ve been waiting for the proposed Brunel Plaza to sweep visitors through a dramatic gateway to the city.
Back in 2021, the week before Nick Kelly was “thrilled to have his picture taken with the new Hoe sign,” the council expected the development to be well underway and a new car park built by mid-2024.
Twelve months ago!
This is yet another failure on the part of Plymouth City Council to deliver on its promises.
And don’t even get me started on Armada Way, Old Town Street, or any of the other failed and stalled projects in and around the city.
Or the weeds on the pavements, the uncut verges, the potholes, and the general malaise that hangs over so much of the city's infrastructure.
The truth is that when it comes to delivering on making Plymouth a welcoming place to visit, Plymouth City Council have a diabolical track record.
They’ve also run up debts of £1BILLION whilst failing to deliver.
And for some crazy reason, they still believe they’re doing a good job.
Fortunately, though, there are people who do feel proud of our city.
Real people like the friends I spoke to outside the Dolphin at lunchtime, the group I met yesterday campaigning for a new way of governing and managing the city, the people I meet and chat to on my dog walks at Devils Point and the Hoe, the local business owners struggling against rising costs and declining support from local government, the community leaders, teachers, event organisers, veterans and volunteers.
Plymouthians, Janners, call them what you will, but people like these have the capability and the power to make a difference for Plymouth.
People who have had enough of failed leadership are looking for a better way to live in the future.
On Thursday, July 17th, these people will have the opportunity to vote on a proposal to elect a democratically elected mayor.
It’s time for the real people of Plymouth, the Janners, to take back their power to make Plymouth a better place to live and work and welcome a new vision for Plymouth.
Because Plymouth deserves better, and you can make it so.
Just remember to register to vote if you’ve not already done so.
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Thank you
Without provoking the wrath of other readers, I agree! I am not a Plymothian but lived in the city for 7 years in the 80s and recently moved back in January. As a result I have seen how other cities are run and how they are presented. It may not come as a surprise but the cities I know have their problems but would not be embarrassed by what Plymouth seems to suffer. Union Street, Western Approach, the Hoe sign, cargo container as bus shelters, the bus station, the Civic Centre....the list goes on. This level of social neglect would not be tolerated in any of the places I have lived. I've said it before, Plymouth needs to decide what it wants to be (and perhaps more importantly what it can be), make a plan, consult and get on with it. Currently, it seems to have a plan for everything and delivers very little. Let's see a 10 year, deliverable plan. I have seen a number of cities (Liverpool, Hull, Bradford) all transformed in a positive way by the winning of City of Culture status. These are all cities who have had many similar issues to Plymouth, ie. the loss of a major industry, in Plymouth's case, the navy. Do the decision makers believe that Plymouth is too big and glamorous to lower itself to bidding for this northern dominated accolade? It's time for change.