New Tourism Group meets

The newly formed Audlem Tourism Group met for the first time on Thursday at The Lord Combermere.

Formed following the recent Canal & River Trust (CRT) workshops and the report on Audlem canal tourism by the CRT's consultants, the group consists of members of the Community Projects team that implemented a wide range of projects following the village's two parish plans, plus representatives of other village organisations and groups.

As a result, the meeting saw contributions from two parish councillors who are also on the ADAS committee, members of ADAPT, the Audlem Lass team, APHAx, ASET, the Festival, the Mill Shop and organiser of the Historic Boats Gathering, AudlemOnline and The Lord Combermere.

Wendy Capelle, of the Canal & River Trust, has agreed to attend the next meeting when the CRT's very comprehensive report will be discussed in detail. In the meantime, the group decided on its response to the draft report which has now been sent to the Trust.

Audlem's attractions to visitors were discussed and various issues were examined, notably how more parking can be found as the public car park is now often full. The group also heard of the impact of recent road closures, notably the Whitchurch road during the Easter holiday, on visitor numbers, with fears that a lengthy closure of the A529 on the Shropshire side of the border in the summer would also have a negative impact.

Audlem Traders Association has now contacted Audlem Parish Council about the concerns of retail traders in Audlem about the A529 Market Drayton to Audlem closure for between 5-8 weeks in July-August in the Adderley area saying that it is essential that a traffic light system should be used instead of creating a complete closure and subsequent very long diversions.

The Group looked at methods of promoting Audlem in addition to those used at present – regular Gossip magazine articles, appearances on BBC Radio Stoke, leaflets, AudlemOnline's tourism section – and numerous ideas came up which will be examined.

A report will be pulled together by the Group over the coming month.

This will be submitted to Cheshire East's tourism team and Audlem Parish Council and will stress the importance of attracting visitors to Audlem for the village's shops, pubs and cafes, the opportunities and obstacles of local tourism and ideas for new attractions including a Thomas Telford museum, a proposal put forward originally in the 2010 Parish Plan.

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