Residents and business time travelled into the future of St Albans city centre as part of a wide ranging consultation to guide development and change in the city over the next 20 years.
Consultation events with young people, residents, business and other stakeholders looked at the future of the city and how it can best exploit new opportunities for growth. The aim is to develop a strategy that guides development over the next twenty years. The challenge is to reduce the carbon footprint of the city and provide new facilities to meet the expectations of residents, business and visitors.
Use this link to view the City Vision Final Report here
City Vision: Integrated living for 2030: a creative, sustainable and pioneering city for all which values the past and embraces the future.
The City and Rural Visions are contributing to the evolving Local Development Framework (LDF) on which we will be working with residents from June 2009. The Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) sets out the vision and ambitions for the area regarding attractiveness; good health and an active community. It also sets the directions for plans to guide development over the next 20 years contained in the LDF.
Below are key background documents regarding the progress of the project.
Background
“This is an exciting opportunity for all in the city and district to contribute and comment on what St Albans City should be like by 2025” says Cllr Melvyn Teare, portfolio holder for Culture and Heritage.
The vision will have both immediate and long-term impact. Designated as a growth area in the region, the city has an opportunity to reconsider its appeal at a national and international level and its place within the region. With the anticipated vacancy of two key sites within the city, a vision that impacts on the design and development of these areas is now urgent.
Public engagement with stakeholders and the community to develop consensus on the city’s future will be a dominant theme throughout the process. Other themes will be defining the city’s identity, environmental sustainability, equality and disadvantage and the development of a city vision partnership. The consultation programme will be widely publicised and a dedicated website and blog will be established to give as many people as possible the chance to engage with the project.
Funding of £150,000 was successfully secured under the Government’s Department for Communities and Local Government Growth Area Fund. St Albans City and District is designated a growth area with 7,200 new homes to accommodate by 2021.
Contact
St Albans District Council
Consultation, Jane Ratford on 01727 819243
Mobile: 07799 658208
Urban Practitioners
Project manager, Louise Mansfield on: 0207 253 2223
Useful links
http://www.urbanpractitioners.co.uk/
http://www.cabe.org.uk/
Urban Practitioners
are multi disciplinary planning consultants, they have a track record in sensitive innovation for historic towns, we appointed them to work on a vision for St Albans City.
Urban Practitioners bring a wealth of experience to the project. Their previous work includes a design framework for Stratford upon Avon; retail and development strategy for Bath city centre and a vision for the historic town of Warminster. The team of experts includes TLP Landscape, which worked on the successful Verulamium Park masterplan, and social researchers IPSOS MORI.