Transforming Trowbridge

Turning a sleepy Wiltshire market town into a vibrant county town is the goal for the Transforming Trowbridge partnership, as Adam Nardell explains

Trowbridge is a short drive from Bristol, Bath and Salisbury and provides Wiltshire with its administrative centre, yet it has long under-performed in terms of retail and leisure facilities.

However, a number of key developments are helping to turn the tide and significant improvements will be happening over the next few years.

Adam Nardell, Wiltshire Council’s Vision Director for Trowbridge, explained: “We have been working together for some time to maximise Trowbridge’s potential. For too long, it has been the county town in name only; we all felt that our residents deserved so much more.”

Setting the scene
The road to regeneration started in 2001, when a number of agencies came together to develop a ‘Vision
for Trowbridge’.

This process to revitalise the county town was led by West Wiltshire District Council in partnership with the South West of England Regional Development Agency, Wiltshire County Council and Trowbridge Town Council; also involved were the Chamber of Commerce, Trowbridge 20/20, Trowbridge Town Development Partnership and the Civic Society.

Adam Nardell said: “The Vision exercise was prompted by a number of key development sites in Trowbridge becoming available at the same time. One of the commercial development companies that owned some of this land took the view that the whole of the town centre deserved the best possible urban planning and design advice. They therefore commissioned an urban planner and architect to carry out a study of what might be possible if there was some form of overall development ‘masterplan’.

“What came out of the study was very much in line with the council’s view of how Trowbridge could develop, and the findings were accepted as a starting point for establishing a more detailed ‘vision’ for the town. This work was funded by the Regional Development Agency, and resulted in us agreeing and adopting a number of key urban design principles.”

Turning words into action
Armed with the newly adopted urban design framework, the Vision for Trowbridge partnership was able to start detailed discussions with key landowners and developers.

In 2005, the steering group was renamed Transforming Trowbridge, to reflect the shift in emphasis from planning to delivery. Membership of the group has remained wide ranging, with representatives from the town, district and county councils, the South West RDA and local business.

Developments coming forward
A number of major developers are progressing schemes for the centre of Trowbridge.

Parkridge Developments Ltd has completed building Shires Gateway, a retail led scheme, with 75,000 sq ft of shop units. High Street names such as Next, Brantano and New Look have signed-up and there are still opportunities for major retailers seeking large modern units.

Developers, Barton Finch is have secured planning permission for the former Ushers Brewery bottling site, with a scheme that includes a new 44,000 sq ft Sainsbury supermarket, cafes and town centre housing. Work began in November 2009 with the Sainsbury store to be completed later in spring 2010.

The council has agreed a Development Brief for the six acre town centre site, St. Stephen’s Place and this is due to go on the market in November. The site offers very significant potential for town centre retail, commercial leisure and housing.

Alongside this, the council is working to pull together a public realm design and implementation plan for the River Biss - this is an under-used amenity that runs through the heart of Trowbridge and provides the potential for attractive landscaping and greater access.

Looking to the future
Trowbridge provides a significant opportunity for inward investors, boasting a number of large vacant brownfield sites. With multi-million pound developments already underway the town will be transformed into a place for the people of Wiltshire to work, rest and play.

Transforming Trowbridge visit: transformingtrowbridge.org.uk or contact regeneration projects manager Adam Nardell on Tel: 01249 706548 or email: adam.nardell@witshire.gov.uk