Ashbourne Reborn £15.2m programme sees organisers invite Derbyshire residents at public meetings
‘Once the work is finished we will have a town centre that we can truly be proud of’
Organisers of the £15.2m Ashbourne Reborn transformation programme have announced a series of public meetings as work is set to move ahead on the government funded project in the new year.
The plans are part of a 2023 central government approved Levelling Up Fund (LUF) bid, designed to transform Ashbourne town centre.
The total programme will cost £15.2m of which LUF is contributing £13.4m.
The difference of £1.8m is made up of match funding raised locally, including significant funds raised from Ashbourne Methodist Church members, friends and grants, as well as grant giving organisations and local businesses.
The Ashbourne Reborn programme aims to transform public spaces including the Market Place and Victoria Square, improve pedestrian areas with wider pavements and safer crossings, and create community facilities at The Link Community Hub and Ashbourne Methodist Church.
The sessions will provide more detail about the main works which are due to start in 2025.
The sessions which are open to all include a public meeting on December 3, 2024 at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (6pm-8pm) and drop-ins on November 26 (5pm-7pm) and November 28 (10.30am-1.30pm) at Ashbourne Library.
Further drop-ins will be announced so residents and businesses in Ashbourne can find out more as work gets underway.
The Ashbourne Reborn programme is led by Derbyshire Dales District Council working with Derbyshire County Council and Ashbourne Methodist Church as key delivery partners, in collaboration with Ashbourne Town Team, Ashbourne Town Council and AshCom who brought forward project ideas, identified opportunities and raised match-funding for the bid.
Representatives of all partners will be at the public meeting on December 3, to take questions.
The meeting will also be live-streamed and recorded so that people can watch online.
Derbyshire Dales District Council say: ‘All partners are committed to reducing disruption as much as possible and to working closely with residents and businesses to minimise the impact. Once finished, the town will benefit for many years to come.’
The first work packages are set to start this autumn both on the Link Community Hub project and on elements of the Highways and Public Realm project, which aim to ‘transform a series of public spaces and pave the way for a more pedestrian-friendly town centre’.
As the works are due to take place over approximately a 12-month period, delivering the change is set to be disruptive in the short term and require temporary road closures to traffic.
This includes the potential closure of St John Street to traffic for a period of 19 weeks, while maintaining access for pedestrians and businesses.
Project partners carefully weighed up the proposal against a 31-week partial closure with traffic lights, which they say would have prolonged the disruption and incurred an additional cost of nearly £350,000. Derbyshire County Council are developing traffic management plans, and anyone with questions is encouraged to come to the public meeting or drop-ins.
Derbyshire Dales District Councillor David Hughes chairs the Ashbourne Reborn Programme Board.
He said: “This exciting transformation will bring new life to Ashbourne and improve the town centre for residents, visitors and businesses.
“It is fantastic to see the hard work and determination of all the project partners bearing fruit as we move toward the start of works.
“However, we do recognise that there will be some disruption in the short term, and that residents and businesses want to understand the plans.
“The public meeting and drop-ins are a chance to ask questions and find out more, and they are open to all.”
Councillor Simon Spencer is chair of the Highways and Public Realm Project Board, and Derbyshire County Council’s Deputy Leader.
He said: “I would encourage everyone who lives or works in Ashbourne to come along to the public meeting or one of the drop-in events to find out more.
“This project is going to be transformational for the town, but while we are in the build phase there’s no doubt it will cause issues for traffic.
“We will do all we can to mitigate these as best we can, and of course we will be doing all we can to help the town traders with deliveries.
“Once the work is finished we will have a town centre that we can truly be proud of.”
Tony Walker is leader of the Link Development Team of Ashbourne Methodist Church.
He said: “We look forward to meeting people at the public meeting and drop-in events, and sharing more about the progress we have made and plans for development of the Link Community Hub.
"The new community hub will bring significant benefits to the town.
“It will provide meeting rooms and hot-desks for business use and be a great venue for arts, theatre and music events which will be a major asset for the town.
“Our quality, affordable en-suite accommodation will support the local visitor economy.”
Led by the County Council, the highways and public realm project aims to transform a series of public spaces including the Market Place, Victoria Square, Millennium Square and Shrovetide Walk.
It will also include works to the road network on Dig Street, St John Street, Church Street, Station Road and Buxton Road.
For more information about the project click here.