Chard Public Realm Enhancement Review

One of South Somerset District Council’s priority projects is the Regeneration of Chard Town Centre, and notably the reuse of the Boden Mill site for a mix of land uses.

SSDC plans to use its prime town centre land holdings to regenerate Chard and enhance its Town Centre offer for businesses, visitors and the local community with the aim of enhancing the local economy

We require a a Review of the Town Centre Car Parking, Coach Facilities, Public Realm, Signing and Associated Infrastructure and production of a Design Guide with clarity on the materials palate and Develop Proposals for Improvements

The review needs to address the following:

• Public and private car parking and any opportunities for rationalisation. An assessment of SSDC car park charging arrangements with proposals for introducing greater flexibility, so as to increase usage at different times of the day/ week
• Improvements to street sign posting and information for pedestrians, including the use of finger posts, maps and interpretation techniques
• Opportunities for public realm improvements to reduce the current dominance of vehicles within town centre streets, introducing traffic calming in appropriate locations and streets, including the potential for creating attractively paved, sitting out areas, pedestrianised areas and event spaces, using a range of different materials
• Highlight the opportunities for providing new seating, planting, public art and lighting to provide a more attractive and high quality environment within the town centre during the day and evening periods to make the areas inviting and safe and to add support to the evening and night time economy
• Produce a Design Guide for a consistent look across the Town Centre