Nottingham has been successful in retaining its Purple Flag status – the national accreditation scheme that recognises excellence in the management of town and city centres at night – and is marking this important achievement during national Purple Flag Week which is running all this week (21 – 29 September).
A Purple Flag has been hoisted above the Nottingham’s iconic Council House in the Old Market Square and also Nottingham Castle by the various parties involved in helping to retain the accreditation – the Nottingham Business Improvement District, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire Police.
A national switch on of purple lights across the country took place on Saturday night and both the Council House and Castle were lit up in purple as part of this and will remain lit up in purple at night during this week.
There are also various promotional activities taking place to mark the city retaining its Purple Flag status for a fourth consecutive year. These include purple balloons handed out in the city centre on Saturday 21 September and a competition giving people the chance to win lots of lovely purple goodies by visiting the BID’s website www.itsinnottingham.com/purpleflag. These include an Ipad, an Ipod Shuffle, backpack, expresso cups, a phone headset and a parma violet tree – clearly all purple!
In addition, a number of city centre venues are doing their own purple activities. Staff at Bad Ju Ju Tiki Shack on Broad Street are dressing in purple for the whole week and offering a special Purple Flag cocktail. Cape Bar staff are also wearing purple for the week and the bar is decorated in purple too.
On the Tuesday of Purple Flag Week (24 September) “the Malt Cross goes purple with Cake and Ale” when a band called Cake and Ale will be playing, the whole place will be decorated with purple balloons, staff will be wearing purple and purple cakes will be served. The lights will be turned purple for the entire week too and a special purple mocktail is being created.
Up and coming Nottingham musician Georgie Rose, who recently performed at Nottingham Rocks concert and Splendour, was also present to give a helping hand in hoisting the flag in support of her home city. She said: “Nottingham is a brilliant city and a superb place for a great night out – I’ve had some excellent times with friends. Lots is obviously being done to make sure that we can have a safe and enjoyable time but I hadn’t really appreciated it until now! We need to shout about Purple Flag and spread the word about what it means – I guess it’s like Blue Flag for beaches and Green Flag for parks – it’s a good thing!”
A range of different initiatives and measures have been implemented to enable Nottingham to gain Purple Flag accreditation for a fourth consecutive year and key to the success has been the effective partnerships and working relationships that have been developed between the different organisations that operate in the city centre.
A City Task Force consisting of various public and private sector partners has been set up to monitor the facilities and services provided to visitors and residents to ensure that a strategic approach is taken to city centre management.
On a practical level in order to encourage people into town at night, there have been improvements in the quality and provision of car parking with the cost of on-street parking in the evening reduced and late night buses now running. In addition the Lace Market, Trinity Square and Curzon Street Car Park has gained the Park Mark Safer Parking Award which recognises good management, effective surveillance, appropriate lighting, low crime rates and a clean environment.
Higher levels of cleanliness have been achieved with 130 new solar powered self compacting litter bins installed and an iPhone app launched to enable people to report issues of littering and vandalism. In addition a specialist deep cleansing machine, which is jointly funded by Nottingham City Council and the BID, is already having a major impact on addressing the issue of chewing gum in particular.
The two organisations are also funding the late night opening of the public toilets on Greyhound Street just off the Old Market Square which are now open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
The highways and public realm spaces within the city centre have also been improved.
All these initiatives are in addition to the Taxi Marshals and Street Pastors that already operate in the city at night.
“It is great news that Nottingham has retained its Purple Flag status and it’s important that people know about it,” said Neil Fincham, director of the Nottingham BID and chair of the BID’s Place Management Advisory Group. “It is an important accreditation for the city with Nottingham being just one of only 20 locations around the country to have it. It is a clear indication that Nottingham is a great city for a night out for everyone – families, people young and old and students alike, with a fantastic selection of bars, restaurants and clubs as well as theatres, cinemas and live music venues. It is also a sign that it is safe, clean and welcoming environment.”
Cllr Nick McDonald, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Jobs and Growth, said: “It’s great to see Nottingham retain its Purple Flag status for another year, seeing the city recognised once more for being a safe and enjoyable place to have a night out.
“This is important recognition of how welcoming, clean and well-managed our city is. Anything that encourages people to come and see first-hand what a great place Nottingham is to visit for a night out is a welcome boost to our night time economy in the city centre.”
Chief Inspector Shaun Ostle, Head of Nottingham City Centre for Community Protection, said: “The way that the police & council work together to tackle crime, anti-social behaviour and environmental crime in Nottingham is seen as national best practice and our teams have worked incredibly hard to ensure that we retain this accolade for the fourth year running.”
Baroness Newlove, the Government’s Champion for Activ Safter Communities and Victims’ Commissioner who has become the Purple Flag Week Champion for 2013 said: “I believe the scheme is making a positive impact, helping to create better, safer nights out for everyone and, in tackling issues such as crime and anti-social behaviour, is helping to turn around the perceptions of the night time economies of many of our towns and city centres.”