Big Town Festival to outline 'ambitious' vision for Shrewsbury
An ambitious vision for the future of Shrewsbury will be outlined during a festival in the new year.
The Big Town Festival will show some of the work that has been taking place over the past year to develop a "masterplan vision", building on the original Big Town Plan document published in 2018.
An extensive report is set to be published, looking at how the town centre could thrive by improving connectivity throughout the whole of Shrewsbury, along with some bold development plans.
The Big Town Plan Partnership, made up of Shropshire Council, Shrewsbury Town Council and Shrewsbury BID, is planning to hold a range of online events to discuss the report.
The festival starts on Tuesday, January 19, 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. It will run for a fortnight.
Councillor Peter Nutting, leader of Shropshire Council, said: “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.
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“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, added: “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 Glenn Howells Architects 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, said: “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 shrewsburybigtownplan.org
