Civic society praises Shrewsbury masterplan's nod to heritage, but criticises 'salesman' speak
A civic group has praised the way the Shrewsbury Big Town Plan celebrates heritage, but criticised its use of "salesman" language and "developer-ese".
Shrewsbury Civic Society members have studied the Big Town Plan masterplan document, which was released in January, and have expressed reservations over a lack of convenience for residents and a "regressive" public transport strategy.
The plan involves range of ideas for how Shrewsbury could evolve, including options for creating a riverside park in place of the busy Smithfield Road, making more use of the railway viaduct at Abbey Foregate, and reducing the amount of traffic in the town centre.
One of the ideas is the get rid of the town's bus station and to utilise park and ride more.
A six-week consultation on the plan is due to end today, but the Big Town Plan Partnership say there will be more opportunities to comment on proposals over the coming months.
Civic society member Mike Carter said: “There’s some great improvements in the latest version of the Big Town Plan and it’s wonderful to have the town’s heritage celebrated as a theme.
Hoping
"It’s a pity that the document’s language reads as a form of salesmanship, because that may undermine its strengths. Nevertheless, we are still hoping for some system that will ensure the appropriateness and highest quality of design for any future developments in the town centre and beyond”.
The society’s chairman, Mike Dinneen, said: “Public involvement has been a real feature of the Big Town Plan and the civic society has followed and commented on its development. "This new version takes the plan forward, following the master-planning work. The society supports the best quality improvements and hopes for sustainable developments that will improve the town for its residents and others.”
The society members say they are pleased with proposals which could offer substantial improvements, such as “nurturing the natural environment” and reducing traffic. However, they say they are "very disconcerted" by the language of the document, worded with "over-generalisations and use of hyperbole".
Several retail experts, business owners and other groups discussed the plan in a series of webinars at the Big Town Plan Festival earlier in the year. Anyone interested can view them at shrewsburybigtownplan.org
To comment on the consultation visit shrewsburybigtownplan.commonplace.is/proposals/overview-the-masterplan-vision
