Keynsham town centre scheme design tweaked

The design of a new shops, offices and library scheme for Keynsham has been tweaked after concern from planners and civic watchdogs.

Designers were sent back to the drawing board over the £34 million redevelopment scheme for the town centre, which would create new offices for council staff.

Bath and North East Somerset Council’s plans to regenerate the area around the Town Hall also include shops, restaurants, a library and public space.

The authority’s own development control committee last month deferred a decision on planning permission, calling for significant changes to the design of roofs and building materials.

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The height of the building facing Bath Hill has been reduced by 13ft, and the height of the library and one stop shop building has been cut by 18 inches, while areas of stone wall, brass and gold cladding have been redesigned. The roof has been changed from a single pitch to a split-pitch design.

The revised drawings can be viewed at www.bathnes.gov.uk/keynshamregen.

The look of the previous scheme had been slated by Keynsham Civic Society, which described it as “a dominant, overbearing urban design, unsuited to a welcoming rural market town”.

The latest designs have been backed by Keynsham Town Council and are expected to before B&NES’s development control committee again on October 24.

Town council chair Councillor Gill Hellier said: “We are keen to see the scheme move forward now and hope that the project can progress without delay.”

B&NES cabinet member for community resources Councillor David Bellotti (Lib Dem, Lyncombe) said: “Bath and North East Somerset Council has worked hard to change the proposals of the regeneration to create a scheme which addresses the comments by the planning committee. The end result is a design which supports our goal of a vastly improved town centre.”

Public consultation on the revised planning application starts on Monday.