Plans for the regeneration of Shrewsbury town centre have been submitted to Shropshire Council.
The project is set to transform the area between the River Severn, Darwin Centre, Roushill and Raven Meadows in the town centre and, if approved, will include the demolition of the Riverside Shopping Centre and former Riverside Medical Practice.
Led by the council and development manager RivingtonHark, the first application in phase one plans to create a new public park at the site. It has been bankrolled by almost £19m of levelling up money from the government.
The park would be adjacent to Roushill and would feature play equipment and an events and performance area.
The FaulknerBrowns Architects-designed Smithfield Riverside masterplan has future phase one public consultations and planning applications in development. These plans include offices, new homes and a revised leisure offering that would include restaurants and a cinema.
There are four planned phases of development. The next application is due in early 2024.
Ian Nellins, deputy leader of Shropshire Council, said: “Although this specific application relates to the proposed public park on Roushill, it was great to start conversations about the wider masterplan in general and future phases. We appreciate that there is a clear desire from the public to understand how public transport and car travel will change over the coming years in and around the town centre. These early conversations will serve us well as we enter formal public consultation on the movement strategy in 2024.”
Other themes that came from the public consultation included a desire for more pedestrianisation in the area, public safety, adequate space management, a plan for regular flooding and enhanced accessibility.
Tom Smith, director of Spacehub Landscape Architects, said following concerns raised during the public consultation, revisions have been made to proposals.
He said: “In particular, the play elements in the park have been made far more robust and natural in appearance. This design ethos that ties back to the geology of Shropshire seems to align closer to what a lot of people desire from a town centre park in Shrewsbury. This also responds to requests to ensure that the play equipment is robust enough to deal with floods and subsequent clean-up without being damaged.”
A decision is expected to be made by local planning authority committee in early 2024.
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