Plans afoot to revitalise Biggleswade town centre and its Market Square

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Plans are afoot to rejuvenate Biggleswade Market Square and its surrounding area.

A final blueprint of a revitalised town centre for Biggleswade could be presented to the town council (BTC) in January, a meeting heard.

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Officers have been working since the beginning of this year to develop a vision for the Market Square and surrounding area, according to a report to the council’s town centre management committee.

A working report with key decision points was produced by an initial firm of consultants, before the committee resolved for quotes to be obtained using the draft vision document to produce a completed version, said the report.

Biggleswade town centre. Images: Biggleswade Town Council.Biggleswade town centre. Images: Biggleswade Town Council.
Biggleswade town centre. Images: Biggleswade Town Council.

“Officers issued an expression of interest exercise from consultants, last month, to produce an updated, revised and refined version for public consultation. Of seven firms approached, three expressed an interest and one met the specification and brief within the planned budget of up to £5,000.

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“The new consultants were asked to redraft and produce the vision document in a more attractive and accessible promotable format, with the aim of entering into a contract.

“This new version will be less technical and formal in tone and approach, and more promotional, visionary and illustrative to appeal to a wider non-professional audience. It’s anticipated the professional new distilled document will be ready for viewing in January 2025.”

Town clerk Peter Tarrant told the committee: “It’s great we’re making progress now, and we’ll have a professional document we can share with other strategic players.

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Market day in Biggleswade. Image: Biggleswade Town Council.Market day in Biggleswade. Image: Biggleswade Town Council.
Market day in Biggleswade. Image: Biggleswade Town Council.

“We can distribute the all but finished product electronically and you can comment on that,” he said. “Option two is a face-to-face discussion with the consultancy firm we’ve commissioned, while the other alternative is a virtual conversation with the consultants.

“How would you like to play your part in that conversation?” he asked.

Town councillor Andy Skilton suggested: “If the company has given us the document, they’ll be reasonably happy and probably consider it finished.

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“So this could be shared with members electronically and any comments given back to them to make amendments, if that’s appropriate within the contract.”

Deputy mayor Gary Barrett wondered if it would be possible to add something to the content at a later stage should it be necessary.

BTC’s community development manager Ian Campbell explained: “The intention has always been that it’s a living document.

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“We hope it endures, but also changes, adapts and responds to the circumstances of others as they occur. It’s not cast in stone forever, but it forms a solid foundation on which we can build.”

Mr Tarrant added: “It’s our document. We’ll keep it under review. We’ll own the business intelligence associated with it.”

BTC’s head of governance and strategic partnerships Karim Hosseini said: “Option one, set out within the current agreed budget, would enable a close to complete draft version of the final document to be circulated to officers and members in mid-November.

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“Officers would feed back any views and changes to the consultancy company, which would complete another final version and send it back to us. That would go to the next available full council meeting, which is likely to be in January.”

What changes would you like to see to the town centre? Email: [email protected] and tell us your thoughts.

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