Welcome to the Wymondham Town Centre Public Realm Improvement Project
We need your help!
Please help us understand more about Wymondham. About how you currently use it, and the issues and opportunities that you think it presents. We promise to listen to your feedback and factor this into the design process. Whilst we might not be able to include everything you would like to see in this project, we firmly believe that this will be the start of a number of additional opportunities to attract further private, local authority and other grant funding into Wymondham to build on this legacy. We believe that this project will be the catalyst for further regeneration.
Please join us at our upcoming drop-in events to meet the consultation team and ask any questions about the project or get assistance filling in a questionnaire. We will be available on:
Friday 20th September 2024, drop-in anytime between 9am – 11am at Wymondham Market, Market Place, Wymondham, NR18 0AG
or
Saturday 21st September 2024, drop-in anytime between 9am – 12pm at Wymondham Farmers Market, Market Place, Wymondham, NR18 0AG Market Place, Wymondham, NR18 0AG
Questionnaire
Please take the time to fill in our online questionnaire. This will take no longer than 5 minutes and will help us to build a picture about where to focus design resources within the town centre. If you would prefer to fill in a paper copy of the questionnaire, these will be available at Wymondham Library, Back Lane, Wymondham, NR18 0QB from 29.08.2024.
Project Background
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.
Get Involved!
Questionnaire
Please take the time to fill in our online questionnaire. This will take no longer than 5 minutes and will help us to build a picture about where to focus design resources within the town centre. If you would prefer to fill in a paper copy of the questionnaire, these will be available at Wymondham Library, Back Lane, Wymondham, NR18 0QB from 29.08.2024.
Interactive map
Please visit our interactive map and make any additional comments you feel would be helpful to the team if they are specific to a geographic location.
In-Person Events
If you would prefer to talk to us in-person, or would like to know more about the project, please also come to our drop-in events to meet the consultation team, offer any additional feedback and participate in some hands-on activities. Join us on: Friday 20th September 2024, drop-in anytime between 9am - 11am at Wymondham Market, Market Place, Wymondham, NR18 0AG or Saturday 21st September 2024, drop-in anytime between 9am - 12pm at Wymondham Farmers Market, Market Place, Wymondham, NR18 0AG
Next Steps
Once you’ve completed your questionnaire, input your comments onto the map or come along to the community event, you can sit back. LUC will collate all the data from this online platform, and from the drop-in event into a report which will demonstrate the key uses, challenges and opportunities for the development of a Wymondham town centre public realm masterplan. This will be the next stage of the project and we aim to consult on concept designs in early 2025, so please watch this space for updates.
Additional Support
If you require any additional support to help fill in the questionnaire, please contact the engagement lead Julie Hyslop at julie.hyslop@landuse.co.uk.
If you would prefer to fill in a paper copy of the questionnaire, these will be available at Wymondham Library, Back Lane, Wymondham, NR18 0QB from 29.08.2024. Please visit here for Library opening times.
