We are delighted that the Colchester City Centre Masterplan was adopted earlier this week by Colchester City Council, following extensive public consultation last year. We developed the masterplan in collaboration with We Made That, PRD, Steer and Authentic Futures and it sets out an ambitious vision for a sustainable city centre with more homes, workplaces, culture, leisure and retail as well as a transformation of the public realm and setting of important heritage assets such as the Roman Wall.

Alongside collaboratively developing the strategic approach, we were responsible for the site-specific development frameworks for a range of sites allocated in the Local Plan, including Britannia Yard, Vineyard Gate and the former bus station site. We also developed strategies for important public realm spaces and streetscape areas including the High Street and Southway. A focus of the masterplan is reconnecting the city centre better with its surrounding neighbourhoods, particularly to the south, and creating inspiring and welcoming public spaces alongside the Roman Wall wherever possible.

Councillor David King, Leader of Colchester City Council, has commented that “Colchester's City Centre Masterplan represents an exciting opportunity to reimagine the heart of our city. It can be thought of as a blueprint that will help guide future development and inform regeneration already underway in the city centre."

The full masterplan can be read via Colchester City Council’s website and is now an adopted Supplementary Planning Document, making it a material consideration in the determination of planning applications for the city centre area.