BUSINESSES have given a big thumbs-up to plans to carve Nottingham into four unique quarters.
The aim is to take the city back into the top five retail destinations outside London and slash the number of empty shops.
A consultation on the blueprint by Nottingham City Council has now ended and local businesses, organisations and individuals have broadly welcomed it.
It would mean the creation of three new quarters – Castle, Royal and Canal – to sit alongside the existing Creative Quarter, each with its own identity.
Dawn Hartley, owner of Hartley's café, in Carlton Street, Hockley, within the Creative Quarter, said the scheme had benefited her and should be extended.
She said: "The Creative Quarter is well established and works really well. It would be good to build the identity of other areas, too."
The Time and Place Plan also includes proposals for free wireless internet to be made available throughout the centre – which has been widely welcomed.
Nottingham is currently the eighth most popular city with shoppers outside the capital, according to the 2013 CACI Retail Footprint standings, which measure transaction data.
Nick McDonald, the council's portfolio holder for jobs and growth, said: "The city centre is the shop window of the city and its success as an employment, retail and leisure centre is vital to the success of the city as a whole.
"Nottingham's city centre is attractive, well used and easily accessible but there are still improvements needed, which is why we need this long-term plan so we continue to develop and improve the city centre for local residents, businesses and visitors."
The final draft of the plan will be discussed by the council's executive board on Tuesday.
What do you make of the proposals? E-mail opinion@nottinghampost.com.
