The Bath Road car parks
- Statement by the Chair of Connect Regen Limited issued in September 2016*
Following the meeting of the Community Representatives’ Panel in September, at which the Bath Road traders rejected any role for Connect Regen and some local residents made objections to the project, the Board of Connect Regen Limited have decided that it cannot pursue the car park transformation scheme as we had hoped.
The final report we received from Illman Young, our landscape designers, was commendably thorough. They recommended an exciting plan to us, which took on board the points put to them during the consultations - see connectregen.com. We are deeply disappointed that we cannot now take this forward to implementation.
We consider that the objections to the scheme were either unreasonable or could have easily been addressed through dialogue - but the good will was not there. Through the external funding we could have mobilised, this depressing area could have been transformed to the benefit of residents and traders alike. We had every reason to expect that we would have been been able to carry out this scheme in partnership with the Council. Our disappointment is all the greater because we have received strong messages of support from the Council itself, as well as from traders in the Suffolks and Tivoli, and from other established residents’ and community groups (including SPJARA).
We were invited to make a presentation of our work to members and senior officers of Cheltenham Borough Council on 29 November. Following the meeting, Mike Redman, Director of Environment and who was appointed to work with us, wrote to us and we responded. We have told the Council that they are free to use the Illman Young report in deciding on the future of the Bath Road car parks, and indeed that of the Council’s other surface car parks. This correspondence can be seen here connectregen.com".
Adrian Phillips
Chair
Connect Regen Limited
*Connect Regen is the not-for-profit Community Benefit Society that developed the project for the improvement of the Bath Road car parks
- Statement by the Chair of Connect Regen Limited issued in September 2016*
Following the meeting of the Community Representatives’ Panel in September, at which the Bath Road traders rejected any role for Connect Regen and some local residents made objections to the project, the Board of Connect Regen Limited have decided that it cannot pursue the car park transformation scheme as we had hoped.
The final report we received from Illman Young, our landscape designers, was commendably thorough. They recommended an exciting plan to us, which took on board the points put to them during the consultations - see connectregen.com. We are deeply disappointed that we cannot now take this forward to implementation.
We consider that the objections to the scheme were either unreasonable or could have easily been addressed through dialogue - but the good will was not there. Through the external funding we could have mobilised, this depressing area could have been transformed to the benefit of residents and traders alike. We had every reason to expect that we would have been been able to carry out this scheme in partnership with the Council. Our disappointment is all the greater because we have received strong messages of support from the Council itself, as well as from traders in the Suffolks and Tivoli, and from other established residents’ and community groups (including SPJARA).
We were invited to make a presentation of our work to members and senior officers of Cheltenham Borough Council on 29 November. Following the meeting, Mike Redman, Director of Environment and who was appointed to work with us, wrote to us and we responded. We have told the Council that they are free to use the Illman Young report in deciding on the future of the Bath Road car parks, and indeed that of the Council’s other surface car parks. This correspondence can be seen here connectregen.com".
Adrian Phillips
Chair
Connect Regen Limited
*Connect Regen is the not-for-profit Community Benefit Society that developed the project for the improvement of the Bath Road car parks
