Town Centre
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Darlington Town Centre as a sub-regional shopping centre has a catchment area population of around 500,000 people and has over 600 shops and businesses set in a pleasant shopping environment.
Much of the town centre has undergone a recent transformation, with new high quality pedestrian dominated streets and open spaces. In addition, attractive new street furniture and public art features provide a fresh new look.
The town centre is relatively compact which enables easy pedestrian movement. The old and the new stand side by side, with many of the High Street names you might expect; two excellent indoor shopping centres and an enviable number of unique specialist shops. Town centre shopping also benefits from highly successful schemes such as Shopmobility [external link], Crimenet and a comprehensive CCTV system.
The town centre also builds on its heritage as a market town with fresh local produce on sale in the Victorian covered market, a vibrant outdoor market on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays: and occasional speciality markets also taking place.
In addition to the variety of shops on offer, the Town Centre also boasts many other features including:
- Attractive floral displays
- Unique public art features - Life Pulse and Market Cascade
- Street events and attractions
- Relaxing pavement cafés
- Restaurants serving food from around the world
- A buzzing nightlife, with numerous bars and clubs
- Indoor multi-sport facility - the Dolphin Centre
- Arts Centre and Civic Theatre
- Library
- 13th Century St. Cuthbert's Church [external link]
- Wonderful Victorian architectural and a heritage to be proud of
Darlington Town Centre Management
Darlington Town Centre Management is a proactive partnership between the Council and the private and voluntary sectors. The aim is to maintain and develop a vibrant town centre where businesses can thrive.
Town Centre Board
Town Centre Management reports to a Town Centre Board which meets bi-monthly. Its members help to drive Darlington forward by providing a strategic direction. They also act as ambassadors for the town and oversee all Town Centre developments.
The Town Centre Board has three key aims:
- To promote the balanced development of the town centre’s commercial, cultural, shopping, tourism and leisure activities
- To increase the town centre’s prosperity, and
- To provide a clean, safe and welcoming town centre environment
On a `day-to-day’ basis, the Town Centre Management team takes an active role in all areas of town centre activity by working to:
- Support existing businesses and encourage new investment in the town centre
- Help the progress of appropriate development schemes
- Ensure all users have good access to the town centre and its services
- Promote and market the town centre through events, publications and the Internet, and
- Help to maintain a safe, attractive and welcoming town centre environment
The Darlington Town Centre Traders’ Association
A new Town Centre Traders Association has been developed to provide benefits to all businesses that join the scheme, through joint working and shared resources. Benefits include individual business features on websites and promotional guides.
All income received from the Association is re-invested into marketing and promoting the town centre.
Town centre businesses are encouraged to join the Association - for more information on membership and benefits, please contact the Town Centre Management Team
Town Centre Events
Darlington Borough Council’s Events and Town Centre Management Teams organise a range of events to:
- Raise the profile of the town centre
- Increase the flow of pedestrians, and
- Provide entertainment for residents and visitors
If a business wishes to organise an event in the town centre, which extends beyond their own business premises, the Town Centre Management Team can assist in respect of safety issues, road closures, security, risk assessments and promotion. Any event that impacts on the highway or footpaths will require permission from both the council and the Police. Road closures may be necessary to ensure the safety or road users and pedestrians if the event could impact on traffic movement. A risk assessment will need to be submitted to the Council, detailing any significant risks relating to the event and what measures will be taken to reduce these.