Plans for redesign of Melton Mowbray town centre

Planning officials at the borough council have drawn up a Melton Mowbray Design Guide, which includes establishing clearly defined gateways into town, decluttering the pedestrian areas and installing lots of extra green planted areas.

The council says it has consulted with Melton Mowbray Town Estate, Melton BID and the county council highways authority on the plans, which it says are aimed at fostering a closer connection for the town centre with the major £12M redevelopment project at the Stockyard, which will provide a food production hub and enhanced venue for public events.

The guide highlights a need to improve the Market Place with its ‘cluttered streetscape’ and ‘unplanted large black plastic planters’ and ‘an inconsistent array of market canopies’ and also Leicester Street, which it states ‘has an excessive amount of carriageway space relative to its use’ and an absence of a pedestrian crossing near to the church.

Suggested changes would see better planters and small trees introduced in the market square, along with market stalls in a unified green and white design and improvements to some ‘poor-quality’ shopfronts.

The highway width would be reduced and a flat-top speed table built with a zebra crossing to help pedestrians get around more safely in that area.

Issues identified in Nottingham Street include the excessive cluttering of street furniture ‘including multiple waste bins, planters, and signposts in close proximity’ and several shops with low quality frontages.

The layout results in narrow footways leading to crowding and difficulties in crossing at busy periods, it observes.

Changes mooted in the guide give a more streamlined look with street furniture spaced out more, new Corten steel planters being introduced with structured greenery.

The carriageway would be resurfaced with a buff-coloured tarmac, footways widened and a new flat-top table pedestrian crossing built at the top of Nottingham Street, with the road coordinated along its entire length from the Norman Way junction.

The guide highlights a need to improve signage in the town centre to guide residents and tourists and to highlight local areas of interest, such as those on the Melton Mowbray Heritage Trail and Royal Mile Trail.

This new strategy has developed from the Melton Mowbray Town Centre Vision, which was developed in 2022 and has involved multiple local stakeholders as well as the council.

Some of the improvements in the guide will come from the £71,996 levelling-up funding allocated by the cabinet to the town centre last month.

A report which went before the latest council cabinet meeting states: “The Council is committed to guaranteeing the town centre is best placed to benefit from additional footfall and significant investment from the Stockyard.”

The town centre guide, it says, ‘provides a uniform design guide across the town to make a visually impactful and aesthetically pleasing first impression for residents and visitors. It will also ensure a consistent approach between the Stockyard’s development – as a flagship project for Melton – and its connectivity to the wider town’.

A six-week public consultation is planned before any of the final ideas are adopted.