Hexham Market Place consultation results
12 Jun 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
The future development of Hexham remains bright, with a number of exciting projects in the pipeline
That’s the message from Northumberland County Council, as it emerged current plans put forward by the town and county council to renovate the town’s Market Place did not have widespread public backing.
A public survey carried out earlier this year generated over 1,300 responses, with 682 people supporting pedestrianisation or part pedestrianisation and 679 people supporting neither option.
Hexham Central with Acomb Councillor Trevor Cessford said: “The Town Council has been working on this project for nearly three years with Northumberland County Council, and we wanted everyone to have a say on these proposals for their own local town centre, which in itself is a very different method of consultation than has been used before.
“However, despite the final options arising from the public themselves during the consultation process, and positive noises coming from the County Council to support the chosen scheme financially, there appears to be no agreement from the public and/or businesses on either of the two proposed schemes for the Market Place, therefore we won’t be progressing with either of them.
“I would like to say a huge thank you to all who participated in the various consultations that took place, which were wholly responsible for the final two options. It's clear that people are keen to see some form of improvements in this area, and the town as a whole, and this is something we’ll continue to look at.”
Looking ahead, the Hexham Hub, a partnership involving Northumberland County Council, Hexham Town Council and Hexham Community Partnership, continues to work on a number of future developments for the town.
These include two new schools, refurbishment work at Wentworth Leisure Centre, developments at the ‘Bunker site’ on Alemouth Road, the old Hexham Swimming Pool site on Gilesgate and the old Workhouse and adjacent site on Corbridge Road.
Hexham East Councillor Cath Homer, who sits on the Hub, added: “The future remains bright for the town, with work going on behind the scenes at a number of key sites.
“In the town centre, with Beales closing and the old bus station site still vacant, there are great opportunities to look at what’s possible for the regeneration of the wider town centre.
“As soon as we’re in a position to share more details with residents we’ll be letting them know what the plans are.”
Mayor of Hexham Bob Hull said: “The level of response to the consultation on the Market Place scheme demonstrated the high level of interest in the future development of the town centre and showed how passionate residents are about Hexham.
“We accept the results of the consultation and in the coming months we will be considering the wide range of comments made as we focus on how to integrate these views in developing plans to improve the look and feel of the town centre as a whole. The Market Place is at the heart of this process.”
To view the full consultation report GO HERE