Exciting news! Following a competitive tender process, Buckinghamshire Council has appointed Untitled Practice, specialists in public realm architecture, for the planned improvements to Aylesbury’s Market Square and Kingsbury. Buckinghamshire Council has committed £4.5m of capital funding investment, to help improve the quality and usability of both public spaces in line with the principles set out in the recently published Aylesbury Garden Town Masterplan.
Untitled Practice will lead the town centre’s latest regeneration project, which will open initially with online engagement running from 12 – 26 August. This engagement will be open to all local businesses, residents and users of the town centre spaces – as the council want to ensure everyone has an opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas to this exciting new project. This will be the first of a number of public engagement opportunities, as the designs develop.
The project will build on the success of the most recent town centre development, The Exchange, creating a more attractive environment for residents, visitors and businesses in these two historic spaces in the heart of the town centre. The heritage features of both areas will be preserved but there will be a focus on how accessibility can be improved and how the principles of the Aylesbury Garden town relating to sustainability and creating more open space for use by everyone can be achieved. The improvements will also look to emphasise Kingsbury as the gateway to the old town, celebrating Aylesbury’s rich heritage as a market town.
Councillor Steve Bowles, Cabinet Member for Town Centre Regeneration, said: “This is a really exciting project for Aylesbury. Creating and improving our public spaces is a key priority and a vital part of the work we are doing to help attract people to work, visit and invest in the town centre. It’s really important to us that we hear the views of those businesses, residents and visitors who use the area the most to help us in the design of both public spaces. I would urge all to get involved by visiting the Kingsbury and Market Square website.
The first stage questionnaire-based engagement will be from 12-26 August on the Kingsbury and Market Square website, with enquiries via email at hello@kmspublicrealm.org. Hard copy prints of the questionnaires will also be available during the same period at Aylesbury Library, Walton Street, HP20 1UU.