After months of waiting and following a bid by Wiltshire Council on the town’s behalf, Trowbridge has been awarded £16.3 million from the Future High Streets Fund to help transform its town centre.
The sum was one of the largest allocations from the fund which will help rejuvenate the heart of the county town, although it did not get all of the £23.7 million for which Wiltshire Council had bid.
In a major boost for local high streets, up to £830 million from the Future High Streets Fund is to be invested in 72 areas across England with the funding helping transform urban retail areas into vibrant hubs for future generations, and also to protect and create thousands of jobs. The Future High Streets Fund was launched in December 2018 and is a key part of the UK Government’s plan to renew and reshape town centres – making them a more attractive place to live, work and visit.
Trowbridge Town Council leader Stewart Palmen welcomed the good news for which businesses and residents had been waiting. The town council had supported Wiltshire Council’s bid and Councillor Palmen, who is the Wiltshire Council member for the town’s Central Ward, said “I am so pleased that Trowbridge town centre will benefit from this investment.
“While it is not the full amount we requested it is still a significant sum and will allow a lot of what has been proposed to be implemented.
“I look forward to working with Wiltshire Council to ensure that we come up with plans that will really benefit the people of Trowbridge.
“2021 looks set to be a major year for Trowbridge!” he added.
As a resident of Trowbridge, I would be interested to know, what the proposals for improving our town are, how exactly all this money will be spent.
The Town Council Neighbourhood Services Team now have a road sweeper and weed ripper and are out and about around Town cleaning and tidying the Town. If there are specific area that need addressing please report to https://www.trowbridge.gov.uk/report-an-issue/ and a team will come out and address it
Sorry replied to the wrong comment there. The detailed plans are not approved yet so we cannot say exactly how the funds will be spent. But there will be detailed consultation with the public before any work is started. We will keep you updated via the Town Council Website.
Getting this money is wonderful however the town is still without public toilets.
This is the third lockdown where the elderly and disabled have no access to a public toilet.
The elderly with no transport have to get a bus into the town centre to get weekly essentials from the shop.
There is nowhere in the county town of Wiltshire for the elderly or disabled to use the loo.
Someone tried to use Sainsbury’s toilets without shopping and access was denied to them.
Why can’t the council provide temporary toilets in the town centre?
Why can’t the town hall toilets remain open to the public on essential shopping?
I will tell you why neither the county council or the town council care.
You raise some good points and we are working towards providing access to our Civic Centre Toilets in future followed by a new Toilet block but that will take some time. The reason a lot of them are closed is due to the Covid pandemic. To make toilets Covid Secure is not easy and many establishments cannot do this. Temporary Toilets would also be difficult to make Covid Secure. Our experience how will help shape what we offer moving forwards.
In the meantime, some basic street and pavement cleaning might improve everyone’s moral
The Town Council Neighbourhood Services Team now have a road sweeper and weed ripper and are out and about around Town cleaning and tidying the Town. If there are specific area that need addressing please report to https://www.trowbridge.gov.uk/report-an-issue/ and a team will come out and address it
The whole town needs a good clean from pavements to buildings. Can’t you utilise some of the grant to modify empty buildings into housing? The number of boarded up shops/buildings is depressing and for a county town Trowbridge is sadly lacking the prestige
Hi, its great that Trowbridge has been awarded this money for regenerating the town center. I hope the council will give it some very serious thought on what the town needs for the future and not just go blindly into wasting the money like so called cycle lanes.
If they are thinking of putting up new buildings, they will need to be in character with the architecture of the town.Also I do not think we need any more coffee shops or eateries. I know shopping habits have changed but this is an opportunity to put our town back to the thriving county town it once was.