I bought my business in Witney 11 years ago, when I bought it Witney had a village feel to it, by that I mean it was friendly, respectful, relaxed, comfortable, relatively clean, safe and busy. The retail offer was a good mix of local and national retailers, hospitality had something for everyone, the town centre was a busy weekend hub of activity (daytime shops, evening eating and late night partying) There was a decent Police presence which managed the late night enthusiasm and those who overdid themselves but it still felt a safe town to enjoy at all times. Witney was a destination for all activities by people in the near vicinity (local villages and Brize/Carterton) Oxford was largely ignored certainly by most.

A decade later and partly due to political policies, lockdowns (a big impact) and economics we have a town which is losing its local shops, has lost 70% of its late night business, has gained more barbers and coffee shops than I thought possible, has more traffic issues than ever before, is dirtier (rubbish on the streets, weeds seemingly left to grow everywhere and paths/roads in terrible disrepair). It no longer attracts people from Brize/Carterton in any numbers, they have a decent late night trade and the lack of options in Witney coupled with reduced disposable income and longer public transport travel times between the towns has killed off 80% of what used to visit witney. The town feels less safe, there is a much larger drug problem than previously (lockdown and lifestyle driven plus lack of a national plan or local police action to stop it) We have gangs of kids 13-18 wandering the streets with nothing to do and even if there was very little money to spend on doing it. A lot of the above is down to societal changes largely impacted by the rise of technology and social media but the lack of political direction to offer an alternative has allowed it to happen.

While witney has a lot to offer the non resident visitor with its location, facilities and offering such as free parking and the retail diversity if we are to push the town as a destination for the local area and regionally let alone nationally we need to address some of the fundamental issues and deficiencies the town has. I doubt witney is alone in this nationally and it certainly is not alone in not having much money but the sad lack of a vision for witney by all shades of politician at all levels is depressing. Focusing on 20mph limits and net zero seems to be the “in thing” yet to the people of the town it is irrelevant if you can’t walk down the pavement without tripping over, drive around the town reasonably quickly without destroying your car on several thousand potholes, if our teenagers don’t have an outlet for their energy and if the police can’t sort the rise in crime then any effort attracting people to the town will be wasted.

I think there needs to be a BIG conversation on where the town is in a decades time and then how we go about getting there at the moment there is realisation of where we are let alone where we want to be…..