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"Ely is great,
say happy tourists..."

ELY has come out as one of the top tourist destinations in southern England, with visitors even rating the "Ship of the Fens" above the picturesque university city of Oxford.

Ely outscored many of its competitors in a survey by the Southern Tourist Board. The survey, which looked at a wide range of historic towns and cities, was based on the views of visitors.
Ely scored particularly well in relation to its accommodation, the quality of its welcome to visitors and the cleanliness of streets and open spaces.
The standard of public toilets and the quality of visitor attractions were also praised. Satisfaction ratings given by visitors even outscored those awarded to Oxford. Some 95 per cent of visitors thought the general atmosphere of Ely was either good or very good, with 84 per cent rating the range of attractions as either good or very good.

And 86 per cent of visitors described the accommodation as either good or very good.

Coun Hazel Williams, chairman of East Cambridgeshire District Council's Community Services Committee, said she was delighted with the results.
"The council puts a lot of work in behind the scenes to make Ely a clean, safe and welcoming place for visitors. This is to encourage even more visitors to come which is vital to the prosperity of the whole district. We knew the quality of facilities and attractions in Ely was high and this survey tested and acknowledges that fact."
She added: "The survey will also allow us to see where improvements can be made in the future so we can maintain and promote the city and surrounding area as a top class tourist destination."

More than two million visitors flock to East Cambridgeshire every year, contributing around £70 million to the local economy. Despite the events of September 11 and the foot-and-mouth crisis, visitor figures have held up well.

Article courtesy News of the World

Party time for our Queen...
Visit the Ely Jubilee review page here

Celebrations for the Queen's Golden Jubilee are set to burn bright in Ely.

The party began at noon on June 3 2002 with an Elizabethan fair on Palace Green, including a production of Romeo and Juliet. In the evening there was a live musical review, The Golden Years: 50 Years of Music, Fashion and Fun, celebrating music spanning the reign of the Queen.

A torchlight procession from the cathedral down Cherry Hill through the gardens and to the river rounded off the celebrations. The climax of the day was the lighting of Ely's Fire Beacons - the first in a national chain to be lit in response to the Queen's beacon at Buckingham Palace.

Elsewhere there was fears the Golden Jubilee celebrations will be a flop. Only a handful of street party applications had been made (300 communities so far compared to 12,000 in 1977). Red tape and insurance costs appeared to be putting people off.

Party organisers had to insure against claims for ?5 million, apply for permission to close their street, hire road signs, employ stewards and get permission from the emergency services..!!!

No civic celebrations were planned by Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council or the county council.

To find out about street party rules call the county council on (01353) 667826 or visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/sub/stworks/licences/short_cl.doc

* If you are holding an event, call Chris Elliott at the News on (01223) 434449 or our voicemail (01223) 434403.

'Golden triangle' gives Ely a buzz

A national consultancy group which specialises in town centre management and regeneration has predicted a bright future for Ely.

The Civic Trust Main Street Regeneration Unit was impressed with what it saw during its two-day fact-finding visit to the city on Wednesday and Thursday.

Paul Davies, leader of the trust team, said: "There is a real buzz about Ely now. It has a 'golden triangle' with its cathedral, city centre and riverside. The opportunity is there to forge more links between these assets for the benefit of all who live and work in Ely and those who come to visit."

Ely is the first place in the UK to try 'The Main Street Project', an American system for involving residents and local business people in improving town and city centres.

The City of Ely Perspective was created out of the project, nearly four years ago, and the resource team paid tribute to its work in improving the quality of life in the city.

Nick Abbey, chairman of the Perspective's design group, said: "Looking ahead, a key challenge for the Perspective is to keep up the momentum in the city centre, but also to widen its scope to take in other parts of the city, to include both older and new housing areas.

"In the next couple of years, more than £400,000 is available to the Perspective, from the Market Towns Initiative."
Mr Abbey added that this funding would be provided to carry out projects to improve the environment, provide training for local employees and to market Ely to visitors.

Work on these projects would be carried out in partnership with the city, district and county councils.

Cambridge Evening News 04/03/2002