Dunfermline can deliver a great experience says new chief
Simon Harris • Published 7 Jul 2012 09:02
5 Comments
FITTINGLY, considering her new title, Maggie Mitchell is a woman who is used to delivering.
Before coming to Dunfermline seven weeks ago as chief exec of city-centre management company Dunfermline Delivers, she worked at the BBC in Haymarket on the BBC Good Food Shows and describes taking that particular project from conception to delivery as her biggest achievement.
Her background is marketing and communications and she's had her own PR business and exhibition and event company.
So why come to West Fife and head up a city-centre management company?
"It was an opportunity to work for an organisation that is representing the heart of a very, very lovely city," she says.
And her first impressions of the role?
"I absolutely adore it, I'm really really enjoying it.
"The challenge is the variety: I had guessed, and was correct, that no two days will be the same.
"I have met heaps of people, I've had meetings with the great and good of Dunfermline and I have found a very positive reception.
"There really is now a huge desire to take things forward. The response has been amazing.
"We are well into a recession and hopefully now coming out the other side.
"People want to see change, they want to see things happen. Some projects have been around for a while but they have never come to fruition. The desire to make things happen is where we're at."
The trouble is, I tell Maggie, we've heard it all before. If Dunfermline city centre is a patient in need of medical attention, one possible diagnosis is acute masterplan/consultation plan fatigue syndrome.
"It's a concern she is quick to acknowledge and accept.
"So many things have been talked about, there have been so many projects so far and the hardest part will be to convince people we can do these things and actually deliver them," she says.
"I think we can and will deliver now because everyone is talking to each other possibly for the first time in a long time.
"I am lucky in that I have a lot of drive and perhaps what's happened is that people have become jaded with all the proposals.
"There have been some really good projects and initiatives which have not been delivered and have not actually happened.
"Because I am fresh I can pick up and run with a lot of projects."
She sees the fact that Fife Council's new leader, Councillor Alex Rowley, has come out and made breathing new life into Dunfermline city centre as a top priority for his fledgling administration as absolutely critical.
"We have the support of Fife Council, we have councillors leading it and with all of these components working together we should be able to achieve all of this.
"At the moment I am reviewing everything that has gone before, I am learning about all these projects and some of the results of the research done.
"Then I will sit down and talk to my members and along with them decide which is the best way forward.
"Then I'll write the marketing strategy and business plan of how to get there and at that point I would hope to have real direction.
"The final piece in the jigsaw is Alex Rowley. He is being quite vocal saying he wants these things to happen to the point of calling a town centre summit which will hopefully start to give direction.
"I am hoping these barriers will come down. If Alex Rowley delivers on what he says he wants to we will be working together and helping to facilitate that process.
"We very much have to believe that Dunfermline is a great place.
"If you believe it you can get other people to believe it and if we can increase the retail mix that will be a real benefit."
Not everyone believes - last year a minority of the 432 business levy-payers to the Business Improvement District were very vocal in their belief that Dunfermline Delivers wasn't, well, delivering.
"I have met with them and sat round the table with them and I hope we all left with positive feelings for going forward," Maggie states.
"Obviously there was a certain amount of 'wait and see' which is inevitable.
"The initial vote of confidence is the re-ballot in June 2014. Businesses will decide whether or not Dunfermline Delivers has been of benefit to them or will be of benefit in the future and whether or not they will vote for it to continue.
"But what I hope people will see is a more vibrant town centre with less vacant properties.
"The community itself has to play its own part because it's the community that drops chewing gum and litter.
"We have to have a civic pride ourselves - someone is having to clean these streets and it's not difficult to put your litter in a bin.
"I come from a different perspective as I have a communications and marketing background, not a town centre background.
"People who have town management experience, I can tap into their experience and that's invaluable, but what I can do is bring it all together to create a strategic marketing plan with specific targets, key performance indicators, targets by which we can be judged so people know what outcomes we are looking for.
"What we have not been good at is communicating with a) our BID members and b) the wider community.
"My background is is communication: talking to people, getting their ideas and listening to them."
Maggie is no stranger to Dunfermline having gone to school in Glenrothes and has lived in Fife since 1987.
"I feel like I have rediscovered something I had totally forgotten about," she smiles.
"I used to come into Dunfermline but now coming back into Dunfermline every day I've remembered what a great place it is.
"It can be a great experience because it has so much to offer. It's a lovely little compact area which means people can enjoy the full town. Within 15 minutes you can cover shopping, heritage, lifestyle.
"There's enough things of interest to bring people into Dunfermline and we need to shout about those things. It's about making those things better and looking at ways we can attract retailers in to fill empty units.
"Dunfermline is an interesting, vibrant city to visit. Let's make Dunfermline a place people want to be whether they are tourists, locals, business or visitors.
"It's a great place and can deliver a great experience and it's about getting that message across to people."
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
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itsallwentpetetong2012
145 posts
Jul 7, 13:01
Report commentWell hope her and and Alex Rowley get Dunfermline sorted once and for all as we have had so many false dawns as noted below.
"People want to see change, they want to see things happen. Some projects have been around for a while but they have never come to fruition. The desire to make things happen is where we're at."
The trouble is, I tell Maggie, we've heard it all before. If Dunfermline city centre is a patient in need of medical attention, one possible diagnosis is acute masterplan/consultation plan fatigue syndrome"
We need to SEE ACTION INSTEAD OF WORDS AND REPORTS AND MEETINGS..........
We need Maggie and her team and the council to tackle the PRIORITIES.....(listed below)
1.Work with Fife Council to bring the Dunfermline City Centre Public Realm Masterplan Phase 1 into action so CLEARING Dunfermline High Street of all the CARS and LORRIES that cause such a nuisance to the public. Clear the High Street of A boards with better SIGNAGE and TOURIST INFORMATION signs like they have in Stirling.Make the High Street a better place to visit with all the idea's that are in the Dunfermline City Centre Public Realm Masterplan.
http://publications.1fife.org.uk/uploadfiles/publications/c64_PublicRealmMasterplan-FinalReportJan2011.pdf (copy and paste above)
2.As noted in the Dunfermline Press tackle the Major issue that is the gap site that is the old coop site by do not open small to medium units in the civic square as it will not attract the right kind of business to area that will affect drawing footfall away from the Kingsgate Shopping Centre and top end of the High Street.
When building the civic square or plaza make sure that the building(High Street facing)can attract three big retail companies over three floor(With Very Large Floor Space)with a escalator or stairs linking all of them and the mini civic square at the top which will link onto Queen Anne Street & Bruce Street. We should be trying to attract either Zara,TK Maxx,Superdry(Flagship Stores) to each floor of the new building so attracting footfall from the top end of the High Street and the Kingsgate if we do not do this we will end up with a unit like the Postings in Kirkcaldy which is half empty.
In the mini civic square have large screen monitor(HUGE ONE) like they do have in Edinburgh next to the Sherton Hotel on Lothian Road which could be used to advertise local events in Dunfermline and Fife it could also be used for major sporting events like showing the tennis or the world cup so attract people in the mini civic square.
http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2008/12/18/gallery-want-olympic-tv-switched-off423/
3.Speak to Tesco and see if they are definite going to build the new TESCO in the city center if not get them give the ground back as we cannot afford another black hole like the coop site in Dunfermline.
4. Attract new business into all the empty units(or make bigger units) in Dunfermline by lowering the rates that the landlords or the council charge so attracting new independents or mainstream stores in the High Street,Bruce Street,Bridge Street,Chalmers St,East Port,New Row.
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-sectors/docs/p/11-1434-portas-review-future-of-high-streets.pdf(Portas Report)(Mary Portas(Mary Queen of Shops)
5.Build a multi-store car park in Walmer Drive suits everyone its close to the town center(5 minute walk) and will help with parking for shows for the Albrahama and in future people visiting the new museum.The entry to it could be on East Port and the exit at the bottom of the New Row with the most that you could pay being £5 which is the same as what Livingston is but cheaper than the £10 that you would pay in Edinburgh and it would also keep the High Street clear of cars
6.I have noticed when walking about the Glen which is a amazing walk but everywhere in Scotland has a park we need to do something with it to bring the masses in,the council has just spent millions doing The Peacock Rooms why for occasional visitors to the Glen! If we just forward think and use the bottom right hand corner of the Pittencrief Park to copy the same idea as East Links Family Park(http://www.eastlinks.co.uk/)that would bring people into the center of Dunfermline,because i was young i used to be brought to Dunfermline as Pittencrief Park had a Zoo....
7.Built a subway under Carnegie Drive to link Carnegie Retail Park and the Kingsgate Shopping Centre up also a link for additional car parking spaces which are free for 2 hours also attracting footfall to both area's
8.We also need to come up with some parking for Carnegie Leisure Centre as there is no parking at the moment,maybe some parking on Campbell Street as there is waste land along that road that easily get turned into a car park for families and members of the public to use for the Gym.
9.Make more use of Sinclar Gardens, have the fireworks there as it amazing park and does not get used and ie the band stand ect.
10.St Andrews seems to have the right idea with the mixture of big High Street shops and little independent & cafes mixed together so not attracting all the customers to one area of there High Street and that what Dunfermline High Street needs to do.
Please be forward thinking and try to bring the master-plan and some my plans into reality and make Dunfermline the amazing place it used to be.
As a big town we should take advantage of what we have near,ie we have the Scotland's biggest music festival just 10 mins up the road every year but we don t take advantage of it by having linked events either in Sinclar Gardens or Pittencrief Park which could be a tourist attraction for the town.
We also have the Ryder Cup coming to the area soon in 2014 so that will bring loads of tourists into the area,so need to take advantage of this.
We also have the Fife Earth Project(Kelty open cast mine)completed by then so another tourists attraction.
We do have amazing people in Dunfermline who want to make Dunfermline a success with Albrahama(Bill Fletcher) & Rubens and Grill48 and Fabric & Visit Dunfermline(Thomas Moffat)being recent success stories to show if you put the effort in you will be a success in Dunfermline.
Recommend?
Yes 4
No 1
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vinoboy35
70 posts
Jul 7, 19:15
Report commenti like your comments Petetong .However............we need major private sector investment for those major capital works you describe. They are hard headed folk (unlike Fife Council) who want to be sure they will get their financial return -there is also the small issue of the recession which is only in it's first stages by my reckioning.
Alex Rowley needs to find £11 million for public realm - 4 to get started - can he do that ,well lets give him some time to look at the books . He has nailed his intentions -if he has not delivered by next year I think we will sink deeper like most town centres.
Stay positive !
Recommend? Yes 1
No 0
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char
131 posts
Jul 7, 23:16
Report commentFC just found £20m they didn't spend last year. Surely they could spend some of that on Dunfermline? Or do the Glenrothes roundabouts need pruned again?
Recommend? Yes 5
No 0
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itsallwentpetetong2012
145 posts
Jul 8, 14:46
Report commentVinoboy we could carry out stage 1 of the Public Realm City Centre Masterplan which would take care of the High Street and all those people who think that the High Street is a road..
Recommend? Yes 5
No 0
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Dunfy92
43 posts
Jul 9, 21:18
Report commentThis lady seems like she genuinely cares about the town. That, with her impressive CV will hopefully mean that we can make some long overdue progress in the town centre.
Goodtimes :)
Recommend? Yes 5
No 2
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