Welcome to the Wymondham Public Realm Website
Stage 1 Consultation Report
We’re pleased to share the Stage 1 Consultation Report, summarising feedback from the first round of engagement for the Wymondham Town Centre Public Realm Improvement Project. Please click the button below to download the report. Please note that this report version excludes appendices which contain personal information and cannot be shared in the public domain.
Thank you to everyone who took part!
We received an impressive 1,254 responses through online and paper surveys, open for two months in August, September, and October 2024. In addition, we held face-to-face events, including community drop-ins on market days, stakeholder meetings hosted by Wymondham Town Council, and one-to-one interviews with key stakeholders.
What we learned:
- The survey covered a wide range of topics to understand community priorities, even beyond the project’s immediate scope, which focuses on enhancing the town centre’s public realm.
- Key themes included concerns about banking services, post office availability, vacant shops, traffic issues (e.g. Silfield road closures), and business rates. While some of these issues are outside the project’s scope, the Working Group will aim to influence areas where possible.
- There is clear pride in Wymondham’s heritage and a shared desire to safeguard its future as a thriving market town.
The Stage 1 report provides detailed analysis of the survey responses, including key themes and insights. Free-text comments have been reviewed, and while not all can be included, they have shaped the emerging priorities.
Next steps:
The Working Group, including elected councillors from the Town, District, and County Councils, will use this feedback to develop concept designs. These will be shared in a second round of consultation in early 2025. We look forward to hearing your views again then.
Thank you for your support in helping shape the future of Wymondham Town Centre.
Further Questions?
If you have any further queries or questions once you have read the Stage 1 Consultation Report, please use our enquiry form located here.
Background to the Project
The Wymondham Town Centre Public Realm Improvement Project is a joint-funded initiative between South Norfolk Council and Wymondham Town Council aimed at making Wymondham a more attractive place to visit, work and live. The vision is:
‘A series of Town Centre public realm projects and enhancements to position Wymondham as a fantastic, vibrant Norfolk market town, with its special heritage, attractive for residents, businesses and visitors’
This vision is being driven by a Working Group made up of representatives from each tier of local government – the District Council, Town Council and County Council. The primary project objectives are:
- To extend the trading day.
- To enable the town centre to be more commercially viable and improve access to the town centre.
- To expand the town centre to have a variety of uses.
Here’s what our local Councillors think about the project:
“The Council understands the vital importance of promoting and investing in our market towns and helping to support our vibrant local economy. South Norfolk Council has already invested in the Diss market triangle and in Harleston and Long Stratton with town centre improvements and sporting facilities. It’s now Wymondham’s turn and we are asking residents of Wymondham to give us your views on a project to future proof the town centre and the surrounding areas.” Cabinet Member Lisa Overton-Neal
“Wymondham is a marvellous market Town with a variety of businesses coupled with a vibrant, irrepressible community spirit. The new Public Realm project from South Norfolk in partnership with the Town Council will seek to add to that vibrancy and keep Wymondham a favoured destination for residents and visitors alike.” Cllr Suzanne Nuri-Nixon, Wymondham Town Councillor
The Working Group have commissioned LUC, an award-winning integrated design consultancy, to lead on early-stage community consultation.
No decisions have yet been made on how improvements to Wymondham Town Centre will look.
We are seeking the views of Wymondham residents, business owners and visitors to shape these proposals.
How much will it cost and who will fund it?
In total the project has a budget of approximately £950,000 which will need to cover the cost of designing and then implementing any improvements.
The public realm improvements are funded jointly by South Norfolk District Council and Wymondham Town Council, and early-stage community engagement is important in shaping the right proposals for the right people in the right place and prioritising interventions on the ground in order to get the best value for money.
The examples of public realm improvements located here give a high-level overview of the cost implications associated with some of the potential interventions to give some indication of how many of those elements we may be able to include within Wymondham Town Centre.
What is public realm?
Simply put, public realm is the outdoor areas in our towns and cities which are accessible to the public. For the purposes of the Wymondham Town Centre Public Realm Improvements, it means the streets, pavements, squares, alleys, car parks and all the incidental spaces that link these, and the street furniture, lighting, planting, signage and surfacing that goes onto and into such spaces. There are some examples of public realm improvements below that may be appropriate to Wymondham and a high level cost indicator.
Example of Public Realm Interventions of lower cost (£)
Banners retrofitted onto existing street lampposts
Example of Public Realm Interventions of medium cost (££)
Parklet for town centre green space and / or extended hospitality offer
Examples of Public Realm Interventions of higher cost (£££)
Rain garden for surface water run-off and enhanced biodiversity
Project Timeline
The project team will be working hard to deliver the project within a specified timeframe.
Initial engagement commenced in July 2024 and the project will continue through 2025 with a target date for construction works starting in Spring 2026.
Additional Support
If you require any additional support, please contact the engagement lead Julie Hyslop at julie.hyslop@landuse.co.uk.
