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Royston Town Centre Strategy

Your town, your future - a town centre strategy for Royston

The consultation on the Royston Town Centre Strategy has now closed.  The information below will be updated shortly.

Public Consultation

Have your say in planning the future of Royston by giving your views on the draft town centre strategy.

A six-week public consultation will be launched on Saturday 12 January, with an exhibition and a chance to talk to officers from North Hertfordshire District Council and town planning consultants Building Design Partnership (BDP).

The launch will be at Market Hill Rooms in Fish Hill from 10am until 1pm. The exhibition will then be moved to Royston Library until the public consultation ends on Friday 22 February.

Questionnaires will be available at the launch, in the library and further down this page.

The draft strategy has been put together after extensive consultation throughout 2007 and provides a guide for the future development of the town centre for beyond the next decade.  It looks at opportunities for development but also at how to promote business and retail in the town, parking, transport, safety, strengthening community facilities as well as a variety of other issues.

The draft strategy highlights key points including:

  • Building on Royston’s position as an historic market town to develop speciality shops such as antiques or food as well as making provision for slightly larger retail units.
  • Establishing a united community working together, led by the Council and the town centre manager in the interest of promoting the town.
  • Ensuring that any new building is of a high quality and that is in keeping with the Conservation Area and the large number of listed buildings in Royston.
  • Protecting public open space from development and making provision for new public spaces within the town centre.
  • Using innovative design in new buildings to reduce waste and energy consumption.
  • In the longer term providing enough parking for workers and shoppers on the edge of the town, leaving the centre accessible to pedestrians. A parking strategy has been prepared by consultants MVA which will complement the town centre strategy.

Seven areas in the town centre have been highlighted for possible development or enhancement. They are:

  • RTC1 The Civic Centre site
  • RTC2 Royston Cross – end of Upper King Street
  • RTC3 Angel Pavement
  • RTC4 Market Place, Old Cattle Market site and Corn Exchange
  • RTC5 Warren Car Park
  • RTC6 Fish Hill Square
  • RTC7 Princes Mews East and West

The options for these sites can be found in the strategy.

Consultation Documents

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  Royston Town Centre Strategy Jan 2008 Part 1 (4.0MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  Royston Town Centre Strategy Jan 2008 Part 2 (1.6MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  Royston Town Centre Strategy Jan 2008 Part 3 (4.9MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  Royston Town Centre Strategy Jan 2008 Part 4 (4.1MB)

The policies and proposals contained in the draft report have also been considered in a Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA / SEA), below, the contents of which are also open to public comment.

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  SA-SEA Main Report & Appendix 1 Dec 2007 (0.3MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  SA-SEA Appendix 2 Dec 2007 Policy Review (0.4MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  SA-SEA Appendix 3 Dec 2007 Baseline (0.3MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  SA-SEA Appendix 4 Dec 2007 Aims (0.1MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  SA-SEA Appendix 5 Dec 2007 Saved policies and strategic options (0.1MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  SA-SEA Appendix 6 Dec 2007 Proposed policies (0.2MB)

The following is a copy of the display boards that will be on view at the launch and afterwards in Royston Library.

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  Royston Town Centre Strategy Exhibition (4.2MB)

The document is also supported by two new studies:

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  DTZ Commercial Input Summary Nov 2007 (0.1MB)

The following document is in PDF format & will open in a NEW WINDOW. You will need Adobe reader to view it. This can be obtained by clicking the 'Get Adobe Reader' link that follows the document.  MVA Royston Parking Strategy Nov 2007 (3.9MB)

The intention is to adopt this Strategy as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) to the Local Development Framework (LDF). The strategy will be one of a number of documents in the LDF that are being prepared by the Council following the introduction of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.  This act requires Supplementary Planning Documents to provide more details on the interpretation of existing policy.  This SPD once adopted will expand and provide further guidance on policy 42 part (i) in the current adopted District Local Plan No. 2 with Alterations, which is a ‘saved plan’ under the new legislation, until such time as this policy is replaced by new policies in the LDF. Policy 42 seeks to support and maintain shopping as the main activity in town centres.

A series of workshops were held in February and March 2007 and the notes of these workshops are now available on the archives page, along with the scoping report for the Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment.

To read pdf documents, you will need a copy of Adobe Reader. You can download it free by following this link - OPENS IN A NEW WINDOW

Contact details

If you would like further detailed information about the purpose and preparation of the town centre strategy then please contact the Planning Policy & Projects group on Tel: 01462 474000

Alternatively you are more than welcome to write in to:

Projects Manager
Planning Policy & Projects
North Hertfordshire District Council
Council Offices
Gernon Road
Letchworth Garden City
Hertfordshire
SG6 3JF

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