Shropshire Council has voted to approve the first stage of the Smithfield Riverside regeneration project in Shrewsbury.
Stage one of plans to transform the area between the River Severn, the Darwin Centre, Roushill and Raven Meadows in Shrewsbury town centre comprises the development of a new public park.
Financed from a pot of almost £19m of levelling up money, this preparatory work will see the demolition of the Riverside Shopping Centre and the former Riverside Medical Practice, and the delivery of a landmark new public park adjacent to Roushill.
Shropshire Council deputy leader Ian Nellins said: “The Smithfield Riverside masterplan is a cornerstone project in our ambition to attract new visitors, residents, businesses and jobs into Shrewsbury, and help grow the county’s economy.
“This is just the beginning of the long-term vision but it’s truly exciting to get the ball rolling.”
Spencer Winter, project director at RivingtonHark, which is managing the project for the council, said: “The plans that were approved are all about deliverability and laying the ideal foundations to build something truly transformational.
“Not only do we get to make the most of the levelling up capital and deliver a world class public park in the here and now, but the demolition of the Riverside Shopping Centre will create the perfect, clean-slate conditions that we’re confident will attract the private investment needed to deliver future parts of the scheme.
“This will include our evolving and upcoming plans for game-changing leisure, residential and office developments.”
The project team will now turn their attention to future phases of the masterplan.
Following the completion of the most recent public consultation, a second planning application will be submitted this spring, introducing outline plans to the develop three plots located between Smithfield Road, Raven Meadows and the new park.
A third application in the summer will propose a new leisure-led destination at Pride Hill.
Plans would see the existing Pride Hill shopping centre partly demolished, with the retention of the existing service yard platform and its embodied carbon helping to reduce the project’s overall carbon footprint.
RivingtonHark was appointed to bring the scheme forward in November 2022.
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