Masterplan Vision for Shrewsbury to be outlined in online Big Town Festival in new year

An ambitious vision for how Shrewsbury could develop, creating new opportunities for investment and enhancing the environment, will be outlined during a Big Town Festival in the new year.

Work has been taking place over the past year to develop a “Masterplan Vision” for Shrewsbury, building on the original Big Town Plan document published in 2018.

An extensive report is set to be published in the new year 2021, looking at how Shrewsbury can develop to enable the town centre to thrive by improving connectivity throughout the whole town, along with some ambitious and bold development plans.

The Big Town Plan Partnership, made up of Shropshire Council, Shrewsbury Town Council and Shrewsbury BID (Business Improvement District), is planning to hold a range of online events to discuss the report, under the banner of The Big Town Festival.

The festival will take place during two weeks, starting on Tuesday 19 January 2021, and will include a range of live video discussions from local and national experts, outlining the Masterplan Vision for Shrewsbury and what could happen next.

High Street, Shrewsbury

The vision has been produced by renowned specialists Glenn Howells Architects, following extensive research and discussion with Shrewsbury businesses, community leaders and interested parties.

Peter Nutting, Leader of Shropshire Council, said the vision contained a number of exciting proposals for Shrewsbury:-

“A lot of hard work has been going on behind the scenes to create this vision for the future of Shrewsbury, and everyone involved is really excited about sharing it.

“The report itself includes proposals for the six masterplan areas – Northern Corridor, Station Quarter, Historic Quarter, Frankwell and Riverside, West End, and Abbey Foregate.

“We want to encourage people to spend some time exploring the proposals, the thinking behind them, and what the next steps might be, which is where the idea of The Big Town Festival came from.

“By holding a series of presentations from the people behind the report, along with open discussion events, we hope lots of people will be able to join in and help us move things forward.”

Councillor Alan Mosley, Leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, said the Big Town Plan was a strategy for the whole town to get behind:-

“Ever since the Big Town Plan project started, it has been a really positive collaboration between councils, businesses, community groups and residents, and we want to reignite those discussions.

“The ideas produced by the Glenn Howells team are genuinely exciting and would make a huge difference to the future of everyone throughout Shrewsbury.

“There are a range of really ambitious proposals in the report and I am looking forward to discussing them with a wide range of people in the new year.”

Mike Matthews, chair of Shrewsbury BID, added:

“We all know that Shrewsbury is a wonderful place to live and work in, but it’s also clear that we need a plan to help the town flourish in the future.

“I hope business owners take the chance to get involved with the Big Town Festival in the new year, because it is in all of our interests to embrace the opportunities being discussed in the Big Town Plan.”

For more information about the Big Town Plan, visit www.shrewsburybigtownplan.org.uk

Scripted by Shrewsbury BID