St Editha’s square is officially open

Tamworth Borough Council is delighted to announce that St Editha’s Square has officially re-opened with a ribbon cutting event held on Saturday 21 June. This follows a successful renovation as part of the ambitious town centre regeneration project.

On a very warm day, the square welcomed visitors and market traders with a ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Tamworth, accompanied by live music from local performers, dinosaurs and free face painting.

People were delighted to see the square ‘open for business’ with it’s beautiful new landscaped and paving look, complete with new electrics, lighting and planting.

Local residents commented how lovely it was to see the square back in use and said how the dinosaurs were a ‘roaring success!’

The Future High Street Fund town centre regeneration programme is taking shape

with Tamworth Borough Council’s ambitious £21million regeneration plan to transform the town centre into the busy, thriving heart of the community. This is the third project to complete, two others are well underway and expected to complete later this year.

Once complete the regeneration programme will deliver:

• A new Enterprise Centre in the original 19th Century former Co-operative building on Colehill. (Now complete.)
• A wider footbridge into the castle grounds, to enhance the significance of the grade 1 listed castle, and the existing character and appearance of the conservation area.
• Redevelopment replicating the original Georgian style of the former Peel Café, bringing a building back into active use. (Now complete, and the new home to the Nationwide Building Society).
• Middle Entry renovations which will see some vacant units demolished to be replaced by a new flexible, multi-use building, for independent small businesses.
• Public realm works that will link all the projects together.

Additionally, South Staffordshire College is progressing with building a new college facility replacing the demolished 1960s part of the Co-op building. The college is due to welcome students in September. Together Tamworth Borough Council’s regeneration project and the new college deliver a combined investment of over £40million in Tamworth town centre.

Carol Dean, Leader of Tamworth Borough Council, took to the stage with a welcoming speech that included thanks to everyone involved in the project and explaining the vision for the square: “We’re delighted to welcome you all to the stunning new-look market square today.

“It’s fantastic to see the market traders back where they belong and we wish them all a long and successful future.

“The vision was to create a more modern, more inviting open space, that works better for leisure and entertainment, as well as being the home for the market; it’s wonderful to see that vision coming to life.

“You can see the area has been levelled to create an even surface, with striking decorative paving, making the space feel so much bigger.”

Councillor Dean continued to say: “The paving will extend all the way through Middle Entry, past the Town Hall and the new retail units being created, to the new Castle Grounds Gateway, connecting the town’s three ancient monuments of St Editha’s Church, Town Hall and castle.

“We’re working to restore the town centre as the thriving heart of the community and we hope you will help us, by studying at the new college, using the market and local businesses and joining the events hosted in this beautiful new square.”