The Weymouth community came together on Friday 21 November for the second of two workshops in the ongoing development of the Weymouth town centre masterplan.
The interactive workshop was led by Feria Urbanism, an independent planning and design practice that were appointed by Weymouth & Portland Borough Council to provide impartial advice and help the council engage with the community to develop the masterplan further.
The event saw residents, business owners and public figures split into groups to debate and capture a vision for the future of the town centre over the next 10 years.
It was the second interactive workshop and examined in more detail some of the outcomes from the previous workshop held in early October such as development potential of sites, travel and movement within the town and how different quarters in the town centre could interact with one another.
Both events followed on from the pop-up sessions that have been held across the town centre over the last few months, and hundreds of people have already had their say, both at the events and online.
Cllr Ray Nowak, Brief Holder for Economic Regeneration at Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, said: “This event has been fantastic in highlighting how engaged the community is with this important project.
“There has been lots of participation into the vision, which will enable us to be progressive in the ideas that come forward, and crucially change Weymouth for the better.
“There is unity from residents and commercial sector in the aim of creating a thriving town centre that is vibrant that can offer diversity in housing, retail and leisure etc. The workshops have been creative but also helpful to explore the conflicting issues as well as what’s best where.
“A clear strategy will ensure Weymouth makes the most of its stunning landscape setting, wealth of listed buildings, attractive waterfront and busy harbour. A new vision for Weymouth will show the potential and the commitment to making it the jewel on the Dorset coast.
“We have had a good mixture of age groups, with young people also getting involved as it will be many of them who will reap the benefits of the masterplan in the long term”.
The borough council is leading the strategy with community involvement at the heart of the plan.
The council is limited in the amount of investment it can make directly, but funding is hoped to be raised by working in partnership with developers and other partners such as the Dorset LEP.
The council can’t change things like business rates which are set by central government or control the cost of rent, house prices or other premises.
A draft masterplan is expected to go out for further consultation in early 2015.
For more information visit www.dorsetforyou.com/brighterwey