Latest news

The Commonplace evaluation results show a positive reaction to the new mural installation on Middle Street South.

The engagement, which took place 1^st - 25^th March reported that 92% of respondents had a positive reaction to the artwork project.

Residents were asked to provide their feedback on the completed art installation through the Driffield Commonplace engagement platform.

This is used by the ERYC Local Growth team, to gather thoughts and feedback from residents as well as those visiting, studying, working, or running a business in Driffield on key topics within the town. The information provided is then used to help shape the current and future projects for Driffield.

If you want to “have your say” on where you live, study, work or visit register online at www.driffield.commonplace.is

The mural project was produced by Lewis of Durham Spray Paints, managed by Driffield Town Council and funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), one aim of which is, to improve pride in place.

Results show that 87% of respondents reported an improved perception of the Middle Street North area because of the project.

Other project ideas for the town, provided by respondents, were broadly based around:

• Further development of artistic and heritage themes for the town
• Improving access to green space
• Development of key town assets such as the beck and canal
• Improving shopping choices
• Improved accessibility within the town centre to improve the visitor experience
• New events for the town.

Thank you to those who responded to the engagement.

Work has begun on the mural installation at 41 Middle Street North.

Mural artist, Lewis of Durham Spray paints has started preparing the wall for the final design to take shape within the coming weeks.

‘The Big Picture’ plans to be a celebration of the heritage of Driffield and the surrounding area as well as a nod to the important features of today.

A consultation took place last summer via the Commonplace website, asking residents for their views on the most important historical and present-day features that represent Driffield.

The artist, Lewis, also spent a day at the Umbrella Plaza in June speaking to local people to hear what they feel has brought Driffield to become the place it is today and its important landmarks and features.

Residents were then asked to submit photos of some of the most popular choices, elements of which could feature on the wall art.

Driffield Town Council has received a grant for ‘The Big Picture’ from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Residents are being asked for their input in helping to shape the final design of a large piece of public wall art in Driffield town centre.

‘The Big Picture’ plans to be a celebration of the heritage of Driffield and the surrounding area as well as a nod to the important features of today.

To provide inspiration for the design, a consultation took place over the summer via the Commonplace website, asking residents for their views on the most important historical and present-day features that represent Driffield.

The artist, Lewis, also spent a day at the Umbrella Plaza in June speaking to local people to hear what they feel has brought Driffield to become the place it is today and its important landmarks and features.

This feedback has helped to shape ideas for the final design and now Lewis and Driffield Town Council are asking people to submit photos of some of the most popular choices, elements of which could feature on the wall art.

Residents are being asked to submit their photographs of Driffield Canal and the crane, the Wolds, and kingfishers at Riverhead.

Other elements will be incorporated into the design using Lewis’ artistic flair.

Please submit your photographs by email to Town Clerk TownClerk@driffieldtowncouncil.gov.uk or pop them into the Driffield Town Council offices at 2-4 Market Walk by Tuesday 21st November.

Your submissions will be sent to Lewis to help him create his final design. Driffield Town Council has received a grant for ‘The Big Picture’ from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Food and drink ‘Feastival’ to revive Michaelmas tradition in Driffield this weekend

A three-day extravaganza is set to revive the traditional Michaelmas celebration in Driffield town centre starting this Friday.

The ‘Feastival’ will take over Cross Hill car park, along Mill Street and into the Market Umbrella Plaza, from Friday 29 September to Sunday 1 October, transforming the area into a culinary and entertainment hub.

The Michaelmas celebration traditionally marks the end of harvest and the arrival of autumn, and visitors to the Feastival can expect a feast for the senses, with a variety of street foods, grocery stalls, bars and al fresco dining options, as well as live music, comedy performances, children's entertainment and crafts.

Entertainment on the main stage will feature local musicians, including folk singer Edwina Hayes, acoustic duo Southern Comforts, That Guy Called Si and Great Driffield Radio will be hosting throughout the event.

A range of free activities will also be taking place on the Market Place Umbrella Plaza during the three days. Sparky Marky’s Magical Laughter Show will feature on Friday afternoon, followed by harvest themed crafts, face painting and a circus workshop over the weekend.

Umbrella Plaza activity(times subject to change)

Friday

From 4pm: Sparky Marky – Magical Laughter Show

Saturday

From 10am: Creation Station – harvest themed crafts for children

From 11am: Face painting by Julie Marie

From 12.30pm: Aba Daba Circus Workshop

Sunday

From 10am: Creation Station – harvest themed crafts for children

From 11am: Face painting by Julie Marie

From 1pm and 3pm: Sparky Marky – Magical Laughter Show.

The Feastival is organised by the events company Market Square Group Ltd in partnership with East Riding of Yorkshire Council. The project is partially funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

This is a pilot event to trial the Cross Hill and Mill Street area of the town centre as event space in response to Commonplace engagements by the Local Growth team that started in 2021. Feedback received identified additional themed events and markets as a priority to support the town centre and raise its profile to tourists and occasional visitors. An evaluation of the event will follow, through Commonplace, to provide an opportunity to contribute feedback.

For more information on the Feastival, visit www.zoomevents.co.uk/driffield-michaelmas-feastival.

Results show a 16% increase in footfall throughout the town centre in the last six months, with the months of February and March both showing higher average daily numbers compared to December, the traditional peak shopping month.

Footfall counters linked with the town centre Wi-Fi installation during 2022 enable the ERYC Local Growth team to track footfall data throughout the town centre.

These results demonstrate positive signs of growth for Driffield and increased trading opportunities for local business owners.

The Local Growth team have calculated that over £270,000 of Local Growth funding has been attributed to town centre improvement projects in Driffield since October 2020.

It calculates to £20.69 per head and is the highest spend per head of any market town within the East Riding.

During 2023 the Local Growth team will be evaluating the investment through the Driffield Commonplace platform and will welcome feedback and contributions on the investments made throughout the town.

From today, Friday 6th January, the Town Bus service, now operated by North Holderness Community Transport (HART), will be providing a three-day service on a Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Photo courtesy of Driffield & Wolds Weekly

Following the withdrawal of the previous operator, BusKing, a year ahead of the contract end, the service had to be reduced to two days per week.

From week commencing 24th October the new provider HART began operating the Town Bus route, two days per week on a Tuesday and Thursday.

A Commonplace engagement took place Monday 17th October – Tuesday 8th November to understand the impact of the service changes and to gain a measure of the future community transport needs of Driffield residents.

The engagement received a total of 302 participants, almost all of which were contributions from paper surveys handed out by members of the Driffield Town Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council Local Growth team to residents using the service.

95% of those who responded stated that they were not happy with the reduction to the service with 73% stating that the service reduction from 5 days to 2 days would have an impact on them personally. Further to these, 78 respondents (26%) declared that they had no other means of transport accessible to them, other than the Town Bus.

The results found that users needed the service 2-3 days throughout the week, most journey times were in a morning with Thursday and Friday’s being the most used days of the week.

Shopping and attending both medical and personal appointments were the main purposes of the journeys made by the service users who responded.

The contributions, made by residents, supported the commitment of Driffield Town Council and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to review budgets and source additional funds to allow an interim increase from two days to three days through till the contract end in August.

The extra day was arranged as a Friday due to the results of the engagement and the availability of HART.

Thank you to those that contributed to the survey

Recent evaluation of the ‘Summer Under the Umbrella’ activities has demonstrated success for the initiative.

The engagement survey ran between 25th October and 8th November and received 110 contributions.

During Summer 2022, weekly Friday early evening family craft sessions led by Creation Station and Saturday afternoon theatre performances led by Say Two Theatre Productions were held at Umbrella Plaza.

Results showed that 85% felt positively about the activity programme.

The key benefits from the Friday afternoon craft sessions were that it allowed people the opportunity to learn at least one new skill and engage with different people.

The key benefits from the Saturday afternoon theatre productions were that it allowed people to experience, such an event when most either rarely, or never, would otherwise get the opportunity.

The key benefit to the town centre businesses during this time was 70% or more of those attending, purchased takeaway food or eat in food, whilst in the town centre.

People also had the opportunity to request what other activities they would like to see happening in the town centre.

Suggestions included:

Music events such as singalong sessions, choirs and musical theatre and adult dance workshops.

Presentation orientated events such as street food, cookery and gardening demonstrations.

Shopping events such as German markets, craft markets and food festivals

The Summer Under The Umbrellas activity programme was arranged by Driffield Town Council and funded by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council's Do It for East Yorkshire grant. The main aim was to bring people of all ages together in Driffield town centre shopping area in a safe and friendly environment to socialise, learn different skills and enjoy new experiences.

Thank you to everyone that contributed to this engagement

The Town Bus engagement survey has been extended and will now be closing Monday 14th November at 12noon

From 24th October, the service was reduced from five days per week to operating two days per week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, between the hours of 9am and 3pm.

The Local Growth team at East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Driffield Town Council would like to hear your views on the service changes and gain a measure of the future community transport needs of Driffield residents.

To all Users – an opportunity to provide feedback on the service changes and the impact it will have on you personally

To all Non-Users – an opportunity to provide feedback on why you don’t currently use the service and what changes you would like to see happen to make you consider using a Town Bus service in the future.

Paper surveys will be available to complete from the Driffield Town Council offices on Market Walk, and the Driffield Wolds Weekly office, Middle Street South, Driffield.

Thank you to everybody that has contributed since Driffield Commonplace to date. The more people that are involved, the better the needs of the whole community will be reflected and so please have your say!

Have your say:

https://driffield.commonplace.is/proposals/driffield-town-bus/step1

A summary of the results from the Driffield Steam Fair Rally survey has been produced after the conclusion of a two-week engagement to evaluate the impact of the return of the Town Road Run through the town centre on the evening of Saturday 13th August. In total, 152 residents participated in the evaluation, which ran from 19th August until 2nd September. Business responses were collated separately.

Organised by Custom Shows, the Driffield Steam Fair event management company, working alongside local enthusiast volunteers and supported by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) Local Growth team, the event saw more exhibitors than ever before taking part in the procession through the town.

Data showed that footfall in the town centre on Saturday 13th August was up by almost 40% compared with other Saturdays over the summer holiday period.

90% of residents and businesses showed a positive reaction to the return of the Driffield Steam Fair rally through the town centre.

Of those that attended, 83% made a purchase whilst in the town, with takeaway food and drink being the most popular.

80% of businesses that responded stated though they would not normally be open at that time, it had been a successful event for their business.

Regarding suggestions for improvement, most considered it a very well organised welcome return and a positive experience for those attending. Common safety suggestions were provided regarding the management of parking in the lead up to the Town Road Run, emergency vehicle access being maintained and increased marshalling of vehicles and pedestrians to ensure safety throughout. These have been passed on to the road run organiser committee.

Other popular comments were additional seating and music provision throughout the event and requests for more businesses to open, particularly those providing opportunities for food and drink purchases.

Feedback on what other town centre events residents and businesses would like to see included food and drink festivals throughout the day and early evening, an expansion of different markets – both artisan and continental, music and arts, similar transport shows linked to the town centre and family events, such as street fairs and carnival processions.

Thankyou to those that contributed to the engagement

A new engagement survey has been launched on Millennium Green, an existing public space first developed in 2000, on the site of the historic King's Mill in Driffield.

The 8.25acre site, lies adjacent to the River Hull Headwaters, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and Britain’s most Northerly chalk stream system. It includes several important species associated with riverside grassland, woodland, and fen, ecosystems.

During a previous round of engagement on the Commonplace platform, 21st May – 20th July 2021, feedback was gathered to show how Millennium Green was being used, what issues prevented people from enjoying the area and any suggestions for improvement.

The Driffield Millennium Green Trust, who are a group of volunteers who manage and maintain the area would now like to gather opinions on their proposals to improve the area.

The aims for The Millennium Green include, but are not limited to:

• Being able to be enjoyed by people of all ages and physical abilities.

• Include significant ‘natural’ areas where people can enjoy nature and wildlife at first hand.

• Being an attractive place for people to take air and exercise, meet others and pursue leisure activities and pastimes consistent with shared enjoyment of the whole of the land.

Please share with us your opinion on this proposal https://driffield.commonplace.is/proposals/millennium-green-improvements-proposal

Face to face consultation is planned to take place at:

 The Driffield Town Council stand at Driffield Agricultural Show, Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st July.

 The weekly market on Thursday 28th July and Thursday 4th August from 11am – 1pm

 Millennium Green on Wednesday 3rd August 9.30am - 10.30am, 1.30pm-2.30pm and 5.30pm-6.30pm.

The survey will close midday on Wednesday 10th August 2022 with results and further updates being shared later in the Summer.

Thank you to everybody that has contributed on Driffield Commonplace to date. The more people that are involved, the better the needs of the whole community will be reflected and so please have your say!

The infographic provides a summary of the key findings from the community engagement on the proposed parklet installation for Middle Street South.

This engagement finished at midday on Monday 9th May 2022 after being open for almost two weeks, which included two in-person engagement opportunities on Market Place during Thursday Market Day.

There were 417 responses from the public who feedback on the proposal.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council has now procured a suitable parklet that reflects the preferred ‘Al Fresco’ style with installation expected to be completed later in the summer.

Thank you to everybody that has engaged with Driffield Commonplace to date. Please sign up to be notified of project news: https://driffield.commonplace.is/

A new engagement survey has been launched about the proposed installation of a parklet to add new public space on Middle Street South.

A parklet is a temporary attractive wooden platform and includes fixed seating and planting arrangements. The proposal is that during the summer months it would take one parking space, between Wilko and Lockwood Street, to provide the community with a much-desired dwell and amenity space.

The Umbrella Plaza has created a positive impact on the Market Place area and has been widely supported. We are now looking to see how we can bring similar benefits to another area of the town.

Please share with us your opinion on this idea and the style of Parklet you think would be of most benefit to the town.

Face to face consultation on the parklet is planned to take place on the weekly market on Thursday 28th April and Thursday 5th May from 11am-1pm. The survey will close midday on Monday 9th May

Results and further updates will be shared later in May.

Thank you to everybody that has contributed since Driffield Commonplace to date. The more people that are involved, the better the needs of the whole community will be reflected and so please have your say!

Image kindly provided by Meristem Design

The final round of engagement for North End Park closed on the 9th March 2022 after being open for three weeks. There were 524 responses from the public who were asked to choose their top three pieces of play equipment from a total of six options. The graph in the image above shows the number of votes each option received and therefore gives us the top three voted for by you.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council have managed to secure some funding to refurbish the park in summer 2022, therefore we wanted to know which pieces of equipment residents would like to see in the park.

The Council have managed to secure enough funding to install five of the six pieces of equipment, our hopes for the park are incredibly ambitious and the procurement for the designs is currently out to tender. The only piece of equipment that is not included in the budget is the climbing frame, but it is possible that the multi-functional frame will include some climbing apparatus.

The responses received throughout the various engagements conducted on Commonplace have helped to shape plans for how the park will be improved and thanks to the support of the public this space will become an even more amazing asset for the town.

Thank you to everybody that has engaged with Driffield Commonplace to date.

Please sign up for project news to be kept up to date on next steps.

This infographic provides a summary of the key findings from the second phase of engagement. Thank you to everybody that has engaged with Driffield Commonplace to date.

The recent round of engagement closed in January 2022 and received over 800 responses across the three surveys. The proposals delved deeper into three topics - North End Park, the Market Place Plaza, and the hospitality and entertainment offer. A summary for each of the proposals are outlined below:

North End Park

Market Place Umbrella Plaza

Driffield’s Entertainment and Hospitality Offer

Please sign up for project news to be kept up to date on next steps.

The Driffield Commonplace engagement period has been extended until Sunday 9 January as we continue to receive feedback to the live surveys. Over 700 responses have so far been received on North End Park, Market Place Plaza, and the hospitality and entertainment offer.

The walking and cycling heatmap will also remain open until this date and we encourage residents to contribute. An ‘agree’ button has now been added to the heatmap, which allows respondents to support existing contributions. This function can be found on the bottom left hand side of the page when viewing existing comments. Consultation on the heatmap is also planned to take place at the regular weekly market on Thursday 9 December from 10am-12pm.

Results and further updates will be shared later in January.

Thank you to everybody that has contributed to Driffield Commonplace to date.

New engagement surveys have been launched about improvements to North End Park, recent changes to the Market Place and to capture views on the hospitality and entertainment offer, which have previously been highlighted as important issues.

An active travel heatmap has also been developed to better understand how you think improvements could be made to walking, cycling and the general town centre environment in Driffield. This has been designed as an accessible way for local residents, businesses and other stakeholder groups to raise issues relating to walking and cycling with the aim of making these activities more pleasant, safer and more accessible in Driffield.

If you know of an area that can be improved, then please let us know by selecting ‘have your say’, placing a pin on the consultation heatmap and answering a few survey questions.

Thank you to everybody that has contributed since Driffield Commonplace to date and the evidence is being used to help inform improvements in the town. The more people that are involved, the better the needs of the whole community will be reflected and so please have your say!

Surveys are expected to close on Sunday 5 December.

This infographic provides a summary of the key findings from the first phase of engagement. Thank you to everybody that has engaged with Driffield Commonplace to date.

Early signs show that despite extremely difficult trading conditions, steady progress is being made overall with an improvement in the performance of the town centre. A combination of new businesses opening in the town centre and long-awaited redevelopment works have also started to address longstanding vacant retail units. The town centre vacancy rate has reduced from 14.9% in December 2020 to 10.6% in July 2021.

Please sign up for project news to be kept up to date on next steps.

The first phase of engagement has now closed and the results will be shared soon. The deadline was extended again until 25 July as we continued to receive responses from the local community on current project proposals.

The Local Growth team at East Riding of Yorkshire Council are working with Driffield Town Council to analyse these results and use this information to shape the next stage of these projects. Survey results and updates on town centre activity will follow in August.

We are also developing a heatmap to capture your views on where and how you think improvements could be made to walking and cycling routes in Driffield town centre and the surrounding area. This is in response to the importance respondents have place on a better town centre environment, parks and public spaces that is more pedestrian friendly.

Thank you to everybody that has engaged with Driffield Commonplace so far. Since it was launched in May, the platform has received over 1,900 unique visitors with almost 800 contributions. Please sign up for project news to be kept up to date on next steps.

The Driffield Commonplace engagement period has been extended until Sunday 4 July as we continue to receive feedback to the first wave of proposed projects.

This Commonplace will evolve over the coming months as we engage with local communities and stakeholders in Driffield and the vision for the town emerges. We hope that you will provide more feedback as new ideas and proposals take shape.

Results and further updates will be shared later in July.

What has happened so far?

The Local Growth team at East Riding of Yorkshire Council are working with Driffield Town Council and other local stakeholders to prioritise and progress deliverable actions in the town centre plan. Research completed for the has already helped the Driffield Town Centre Steering Group secure a maximum allocation from the council’s Love Your High Street Fund.

A range of projects are being proposed in the first wave of engagement to deliver against the priorities identified in the town centre survey results, including improved leisure facilities, arts and culture and parks and green spaces.

Thank you to everybody that has contributed since Driffield Commonplace was launched in May. The more people involved, the better the needs of the whole community will be reflected and so please have your say!