Start made on town centre masterplan
Monday, 18th November 2013.
ONE Haverhill, the joint partnership that brings organisations and resources together in the town, has begun work on a draft town centre plan for Haverhill as part of the Vision 2031 masterplan.
Vision 2031 sets out a plan to guide the overall direction of how and where the borough will grow and change.
It is part of the St Edmundsbury Borough Council's Local Plan, which establishes where development will take place across the borough over the next 20 years. Once adopted the documents will be part of the statutory planning policy for the borough.
The town centre masterplan will form part of the Vision 2031 document to guide the planners of what Haverhill wants in its town centre for the future.
A workshop took place at Haverhill Leisure Centre last week at which organisations represented on ONE Haverhill Board came together to take the first steps towards producing a draft document which will act as a starting point for consultation with residents.
It is expected the draft plan will be ready to go to public consultation in Spring 2014.
St Edmundsbury Borough Council estimates the population of Haverhill will grow to 35,000 by 2031 - about the number of people who currently live in Bury St Edmunds. Haverhill traditionally has had a younger population but this is changing.
Sarah Howard, chairman of ONE Haverhill Board, said: “The workshop with the council planning department is just the first step to enable ONE Haverhill to work with them to put together a draft plan within the legal parameters of the planning framework.
"Once the board organisations understand what we are able to do we will then start full public consultation, as we did for our other projects.
“This appears to be the perfect project for ONE Haverhill to be involved with as it is relevant to every single person and business in the town and we hope as many people and businesses will share their ideas with us as possible.
“Of course we all want a bigger variety of High Street retail shops, we also want to support our local traders, but town centres are also traditionally places for socialising, for meeting with friends, for enjoying culture and entertainment, for housing, for business, and a focal point for the community.
"The High Street and town centres are changing and this is about telling the planners what we want for our town and what we need to encourage others to come to Haverhill and spend money here.”
ONE Haverhill will be using similar innovative consultation techniques to those it used for the Haverhill Community Budget last year. This will involve consulting with residents but also businesses and retailers in Haverhill.
The workshop last week looked at what makes a successful town centre, aspirations for the town, historic issues, accessibility, the amenities, attractions and how space can be adapted.
Town mayor and ONE Haverhill board member Cllr Roger Andre was present at the workshop. He said: “The consultation with ONE Haverhill board members was clearly focused on the future development of the town centre as a vibrant, attractive and accessible centre to draw in visitors and shoppers and to provide a wide range of services to residents.
"Whilst transport and travel links are a component of that development, the physical environment and direction to negotiate the facilities offered are the core of the issue.
"Opportunities to develop new capacity for town centre activities were explored to provide a framework for long term planning. Above all the meeting considered the town centre as an integral component of the town offering much more than a shopping venue.
"The meeting concentrated on sustainable proposals which will permit sequential growth of our facilities through to 2031 and beyond."
Sarah Howard added: “The last town centre plan was prepared in 2004 and led by the borough council.
"It is hoped that by ONE Haverhill, which is made up of representatives of all key organisations in the town, taking on the initial draft and the consultation with residents that we will have a plan for our town centre that is driven by what people in Haverhill want but still meets the planning rules. That is our aim but we have a lot of work to do to get there.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the whole community to have a say in how our town is shaped. Not something every town gets to do!”
Vision 2031 sets out a plan to guide the overall direction of how and where the borough will grow and change.
It is part of the St Edmundsbury Borough Council's Local Plan, which establishes where development will take place across the borough over the next 20 years. Once adopted the documents will be part of the statutory planning policy for the borough.
The town centre masterplan will form part of the Vision 2031 document to guide the planners of what Haverhill wants in its town centre for the future.
A workshop took place at Haverhill Leisure Centre last week at which organisations represented on ONE Haverhill Board came together to take the first steps towards producing a draft document which will act as a starting point for consultation with residents.
It is expected the draft plan will be ready to go to public consultation in Spring 2014.
St Edmundsbury Borough Council estimates the population of Haverhill will grow to 35,000 by 2031 - about the number of people who currently live in Bury St Edmunds. Haverhill traditionally has had a younger population but this is changing.
Sarah Howard, chairman of ONE Haverhill Board, said: “The workshop with the council planning department is just the first step to enable ONE Haverhill to work with them to put together a draft plan within the legal parameters of the planning framework.
"Once the board organisations understand what we are able to do we will then start full public consultation, as we did for our other projects.
“This appears to be the perfect project for ONE Haverhill to be involved with as it is relevant to every single person and business in the town and we hope as many people and businesses will share their ideas with us as possible.
“Of course we all want a bigger variety of High Street retail shops, we also want to support our local traders, but town centres are also traditionally places for socialising, for meeting with friends, for enjoying culture and entertainment, for housing, for business, and a focal point for the community.
"The High Street and town centres are changing and this is about telling the planners what we want for our town and what we need to encourage others to come to Haverhill and spend money here.”
ONE Haverhill will be using similar innovative consultation techniques to those it used for the Haverhill Community Budget last year. This will involve consulting with residents but also businesses and retailers in Haverhill.
The workshop last week looked at what makes a successful town centre, aspirations for the town, historic issues, accessibility, the amenities, attractions and how space can be adapted.
Town mayor and ONE Haverhill board member Cllr Roger Andre was present at the workshop. He said: “The consultation with ONE Haverhill board members was clearly focused on the future development of the town centre as a vibrant, attractive and accessible centre to draw in visitors and shoppers and to provide a wide range of services to residents.
"Whilst transport and travel links are a component of that development, the physical environment and direction to negotiate the facilities offered are the core of the issue.
"Opportunities to develop new capacity for town centre activities were explored to provide a framework for long term planning. Above all the meeting considered the town centre as an integral component of the town offering much more than a shopping venue.
"The meeting concentrated on sustainable proposals which will permit sequential growth of our facilities through to 2031 and beyond."
Sarah Howard added: “The last town centre plan was prepared in 2004 and led by the borough council.
"It is hoped that by ONE Haverhill, which is made up of representatives of all key organisations in the town, taking on the initial draft and the consultation with residents that we will have a plan for our town centre that is driven by what people in Haverhill want but still meets the planning rules. That is our aim but we have a lot of work to do to get there.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the whole community to have a say in how our town is shaped. Not something every town gets to do!”
Comment on this story
[board listing] [login] [register]
You must be logged in to post messages. (login now)