Aspirations
Colchester town centre is the focus of a historic market town in a rural hinterland. The town centre has expanded and adapted in the last forty years, through retail-led development that has, in the main, retained most of the town centre's historic character. Multi-storey car parks have been constructed and a ring road has been completed around three sides of the town centre. The town centre now functions as a sub-regional shopping centre. It is well served by public transport, including a bus station and a railway station within the town centre. Having retained many significant elements of its cultural heritage, the town centre also functions as a major visitor destination, and a home for a considerable residential and business community. Despite development that has taken place in the town centre in the second half of the 20 century, the St. Botolph's Quarter -its eastern section -exhibits the need for further regeneration. In commissioning the Masterplan, the Council has sought to secure a coherent and comprehensive plan to coordinate the process of change, risk sharing and investment in public infrastructure.
The aim is to benefit from new development whilst enhancing the setting of existing buildings, spaces and heritage assets. The Masterplan promotes ways in which new urban development can best serve the interests of the community and guide investors to politically and economically viable proposals. Throughout the process of working on the Masterplan, a dialogue between the people and organisations that shape and use St. Botolph's Quarter has been established, creating an invaluable resource for the implementation phase.
In accordance with the Masterplan, sites have now been identified within the town centre for the new visual arts and cultural facility, a Cultural Quarter, a new Magistrates Court, a new Bus Station, new prime retail development and new homes.
Key Aims
The purpose of the Masterplan is to guide development in St. Botolph's Quarter in a manner that brings maximum benefit to the town and to the people who live in, work in and visit this part of the town centre. The Masterplan proposes the construction of sustainable, mixed-use developments within the town centre that will bring three key kinds of benefits to Colchester:
- Social -by creating vibrant, safe, inviting routes and public spaces, contributing to local vitality and social inclusion
- Environmental -by promoting walking, cycling and the use of public transport to and in the Town Centre, and by positively enhancing the impact of new developments on the built and natural environment
- Economic -by proposing physical changes that will bring high numbers of people to businesses in the Town Centre, enhance the value of existing built assets and release the value of redeveloped land.
Next Stages
Within the St. Botolph’s regeneration area a number of key projects already underway include:
- Vineyard Street retail development design process
- Cultural Quarter development competition
- Feasibility study for multi-storey car park
- Construction of the firstsite:newsite building
>> View the Local Development Framework Panel report, 30 June 2005 (PDF format) |
