Cafe Jazz hit by traffic ban

Audience numbers at Cafe Jazz in Cardiff appear to have dropped following the introduction of traffic restrictions on St Mary Street, now closed to all traffic except buses and taxis for a six month trial period.

With this in mind, I've sent the following email to John Gibson, the Cardiff Council officer responsible for monitoring the situation:

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Dear Mr Gibson,

I'm writing to express my concern at the effect the closure of St Mary Street to traffic is having on custom at the Cafe Jazz music venue.

I host a bi-monthly bellydance evening and noticed that door takings at the event on August 23 were down by half on the events in March and June.

My event attracts people from all over south Wales, as far away as Swansea, Abergavenny and Chepstow, and even Bristol. However, the people travelling from away have expressed concern at how far from the venue they have to look for street parking now that access to St Mary Street has been restricted. Train services don't run late enough for them and they are unwilling to pay the extortionate rates charged by multistorey car parks in the area. I myself have noted how much easier it is to park on the street in central Bristol, paying just a pound or two into a meter for the evening.

Other promoters and customers of Cafe Jazz have commented that audience numbers on other nights of the week have fallen since the restrictions were introduced. Many of us fear that if you don't reconsider relaxing the ban before the end of the trial period, Cafe Jazz could be forced to close its doors.

This would be a disaster for the city - to lose one of its most significant live music venues. I believe it's the only venue in the city offering live music on all five weekday nights, and its focus on jazz, blues and world music makes it particularly distinctive. Another nearby jazz venue, Dempseys on Castle Street, is also suffering from the traffic restrictions in the same way.

In conjunction with the Welsh Jazz Society (which programmes its events), Cafe Jazz has done more than any other venue in south Wales to encourage homegrown musical talent. Indeed, UK-wide magazines such as Jazzwise and Mojo have recognised Cardiff as being the centre of a burgeoning jazz scene. Bristol doesn't have an equivalent venue or vibrant jazz scene, let alone our neighbouring cities of Swansea and Newport. Even the Brecon Jazz Festival would be poorer without the bedrock of Welsh jazz talent - and indeed the informed, appreciative audience - that Cafe Jazz supports.

In order to safeguard the future of this culturally important venue, can I propose that the traffic ban be relaxed in the following ways as soon as possible:

- St Mary Street be reopened to all traffic from 7pm to 7am Monday to Thursday

- Legal parking be restored to the east side of St Mary Street/High Street

- Legal parking be restored along the section of Westgate Street opposite Yates wine bar where an additional bus stop/taxi rank was opened last year

I hope you and the elected members responsible will consider this as a matter of urgency before we lose a vital piece of Cardiff's culture. I'd appreciate a response to my suggestions.

Yours,

Andy Roberts

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Mr Gibson's email address is tiw-ch@cardiff.gov.uk - this was given to me by the council's Connect to Cardiff public information service.

If you're a resident of Cardiff, you can also email your local councillors via the website at www.cardiff.gov.uk - worth bearing in mind that 2008 is election year for them!