A vision of the future for Buxton town centre is set to be revealed next month.
In July last year, High Peak Borough Council was one of the first 50 areas, out of an anticipated 150 towns in total, to receive funding from the Government's £1 billion Future High Street Fund (FHSF). This has allowed us to work with partners to develop initial proposals to transform the Spring Gardens area as part of a national initiative to create town centres fit for the 21st century.
In the months since then consultants for the Council have been talking to property owners, potential commercial tenants, key organisations and community groups to start to develop the plans.
And the plans are now at the stage where we're ready to share them with the public and businesses and listen to your feedback. They will be on view at the Springs Shopping Centre from 10am and 2pm on Saturday 1 February; and between 1pm and 4pm on Monday 10 February.
Staff involved in drawing up the proposals will be available to talk to people about the plans and answer questions.
Councillor Damien Greenhalgh, Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Regeneration, Tourism and Leisure, said: "High streets and town centres across the country are changing due to the way that people live their lives and how they spend their money. Town centres are having to respond to this challenge by adapting their focus from being just centres of shopping to providing a much wider variety of uses and experiences which will bring people into the town centre - including leisure, office workspace and residential.
"We have a plan to ensure thriving towns and villages across the High Peak and that means re-thinking how people move around and enjoy being in them to create environments that people want to live, work and spend leisure time in.
"These proposals set out initial ideas for how we might achieve this and we're excited to share them with people to see what they think. Please come along to these exhibitions and tell us your views so that together we can design a town centre that is fit for the future."
If you're unable to attend either of the exhibition events, the plans will be also be available on the Council's website from Monday 3 February where you will also be able to send your comments.
The FHSF is made up of two stages - an initial grant for the selected areas to develop proposals and a second, very competitive stage for those areas to apply for funding to implement their proposals which have to focus on how space can be converted for new uses to transform the town centre and cannot be used for retail development. No guarantee has been given that Buxton will secure this funding and the proposals will also require substantial investment from the private sector and the Councils themselves.
Buxton's bid will be submitted at the end of April and a decision is expected in the Autumn.
To find out more, visit www.highpeak.gov.uk and search for future high streets.
