Preliminary designs for the Batley public realm regeneration have now been unveiled to the public.
BSP Consulting is part of the team involved in the project, which will deliver major improvements to Batley Town Centre, West Yorkshire.
It will create a more modern destination and a safe and inviting environment for everyone who lives in, works in and visits the area.
For the past three years, Kirklees Council has been speaking and engaging with the community, developing plans and securing funding to deliver the scheme.
Recently, the team engaged with the local community in Batley to gather feedback on designs, drafted by Influence Landscape Planning and Design, which will be carefully reviewed and considered as the council moves into the next phase of the project.
As part of public engagement activity around the project, representatives from BSP Consulting, Influence Landscape Planning and Design and Athene Communications delivered a workshop at Batley Girls’ High School with students from three secondary schools collaborating and discussing placemaking in Batley. They discussed what they like and what they’d like to see change. The session saw them bring their ideas to life in a mood board which they presented.
The workshop was part of the team’s public engagement activity for the regeneration of Batley which aims to bring new life, connectivity, and investment to the town centre.
During the session, Influence, BSP Consulting and Athene Communications discussed roles and career pathways so the students understood the different professionals involved in a regeneration project like this.
BSP’s role
Associate director at BSP, Carol Ell, who was one of the four-strong team from BSP Consulting who took part in the event, said: “The unveiling of the preliminary designs for the Batley public realm regeneration scheme marks a key milestone in the project to revamp the centre of this town.
“Engineers at BSP Consulting have been involved in many similar projects across the country and we were delighted to get involved, alongside our partners in this scheme, with the community engagement side of things.
“It was a pleasure to talk to students from three schools in the area about placemaking and also about the roles of the various professionals involved in developing such a scheme.”
BSP is the transport and civil engineer for the regeneration project.
Shona Hatton, director at Influence Landscape Planning and Design, said: “We were extremely proud to win this commission. The designs have considered a wealth of information from previous consultations and engagements, and create a vision that draws on the history and identity of the town to help physically regenerate it for the future.
“There are many positives about Batley, it has a thriving and growing night time economy, a strong and diverse community and distinguished buildings, but the town centre needs a renewal. This is an opportunity for that to happen, to look to the future, to design spaces that better serve the town and its people – to create a new era for Batley.”
Kirklees has secured £12m funding from the government which will be complemented by about £2.5m from Kirklees Council’s Local Centres funding and from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Find out more details here.
