B ACKG ROUND Li ke m a ny o the r rura l ma rke t towns th ro u g h o u t the UK , Pe two r th is af fe c t ed by so cia l a nd e co no mic c h a n g e . S i g ni fica ntly it is the cha n ge in re t a i l b e h av io ur, new fo rms o f re tail an d di f ferent co nsume r e xpe cta tions, w h i c h re f l ect mo st o n a town’s c h a r a c t er a n d pro spe ri ty. In a ddi tion, s o c i et y i s m o re mo bi le tha n i t w as fift y ye a r s a go, so to day a sma ll rura l t own l i ke Pe t wo r t h wi ll be i n co mpe ti tion w i t h n e i g h b ouri ng tow ns inste a d of b ei n g a b l e t o co -e xi st happi ly a s it m ay h ave do ne i n the pa st. T his i s c er t a i n ly t h e ca se wi th Pe two r th, given i t s p rox i m i t y to Chi che ste r, M idhurst , Pu l b o ro u g h a nd G uil dfo rd. An i ni ti al Petwo r th Visio n S teer in g gro u p com pr i si ng r epresen tatives f ro m th e Petwor th B us in ess A sso c iatio n , Petwor t h Tow n Counci l, Ch ic h ester Distr ic t Co u n c i l , West Sussex C o u n ty Co u n c il, SD NPA, Petwor th Commu n ity A sso c iatio n an d Petwor th Hou se was set u p in 2013. T he gr oup co mmissio n ed an in d ep en d e n t consul tant to p ro d u c e a Petwo r th Town Centr e Audi t an d C ACI to p ro d u c e a Petwor th Mar ket Su mmar y.
2 | B ACK GRO U N D
T h e s e we re fo l l owe d by a c o n s u l t a t i o n e xe rc i se t a r g e t i n g re s i de n t s, bu si n e s s e s a n d v i si t o r s t o g a i n a c ro ss - s e c t i o n o f o pi n i o n . S u r ve y fo r m s we re se n t t o 2 , 2 3 4 h o u s e h o l ds a n d t h e su r ve y wa s a l s o m a d e av a i l a bl e t o c o m pl e t e o n l i n e . T h e re wa s a re spo n se r a t e o f 3 4 % wh i c h i s c o n s i de r e d h i g h fo r t h i s t y pe o f c o n su l t a t i o n . A ddi t i o n a l ly, ove r 1 4 0 bu s i n e s s e s we re c o n s u l t e d wi t h a re spo n se r a t e o f 3 7 % . S u r ve y s wi t h 2 0 0 v i si t o r s we re c o n du c t e d t h ro u g h i n t e r v i e ws a n d v i a a t o u c h s c re e n k i o sk . T h e i n fo r m a t i o n g a t h e re d wa s fo r mu l a t e d i n t o a dr a f t s e t o f re c o m m e n da t i o n s fo r t own c e n t re i m prove m e n t s a n d t h i s wa s t h e n di sc u s s e d wi t h t h e c o m mu n i t y t h r o u g h o pe n m e e t i n g s a n d wo r k i n g g ro u ps.
It has been t he job of t he Pet wor t h Vision S t eering Group t o t ake t he ideas and formulat e t hem int o t his Vision Document .
Survey forms were sent to 2,234 households.
