New manager will have to address falling trade

10:27am Thursday 17th January 2008

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A NEW town centre manager will have to address the fall in business in Devizes when he or she is appointed later this year.

Nine applications have been received by Devizes Development Partnership following the resignation Daryl Saville-Brown.

Ms Saville-Brown, who was appointed in May 2006, left to become deputy town clerk in Calne. During her period in office she spearheaded Devizes' CCTV system.

Peter Lay, chairman of Devizes Development Partnership, said: "Daryl did a super job in setting up the CCTV system. Without her management input we would have been in extreme difficulties.

"Now we can move on with other projects and, although we can't spread any new town centre manager too thinly, there are other things that need looking at.

"In particular, we have to look at the retail economy of the town and ways in which we can increase the footfall. There is a good mix of employment in the town, but the retail economy is weak.

"We need to create an initiative geared to that overall objective and the town centre manager will be central to that."

Ms Saville-Brown announced her resignation on the day the CCTV system was officially launched on November 1. The cameras are sited above the NatWest Bank and Eye Tech Opticians in the Market Place, Curry's in the Brittox and Johnson's the Jewellers in Maryport Street.

And before she left, Ms Saville-Brown had already gone a long way to achieving funding for a fifth camera to cover Sidmouth Street.

Interviews to find her successor will take place early next month.