By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
More than 120 people back a redevelopment vision for Cheltenham’s Cavendish House.
Cheltenham Civic Society has been calling for the owners of Cavendish House – Canada Life – to work with Cheltenham Borough Council and the people of the town to create a vibrant, pivotal hub for the town centre.
Their planning forum presented a vision for a new ‘Cavendish Square’ in April this year that would link the Promenade with Regent Street with a town square.
Civic Society set up an impromptu stall outside the site, which reopened to shoppers in May with pop-up stalls, earlier this month.
They invited members of the public to take a look at our conceptual plan for the redevelopment and tell them what they thought of it.
“We operated the stall between 11am and 1pm on two consecutive days – Friday, July 12 and Saturday July13. Despite the competing attractions of the farmers’ market on Friday and the vintage market on Saturday, more than 150 people visited our stall during the four hours we were there – all wanting to have their say.
“Despite the relatively small sample size, the results were extraordinary. 85.5 per cent of people who completed our feedback form registered their support for the Civic Society’s proposal to create a new public square linking the Prom with Regent Street.
“While several people raised fair questions about how the scheme would be funded, the overwhelming response was enthusiasm. More astounding than that, not a single person registered any disagreement.”
They said some of the comments people wrote down included “creating a new square is a great idea” and “an additional square would create a further focal point to a gorgeous Regency town”.
Others said it would be a good idea if “the owners agree” and it would “make the Prom a vibrant place where people want to come and visit.”
Andrew Booton, Chair of Cheltenham Civic Society, said: “We believe that the views of our sample of more than 150 people are highly indicative of the views of our town’s wider population.
“We will be presenting their feedback to the site’s owner, Canada Life, when we finally get to meet them. We will also present it to Cheltenham Borough Council to try to persuade them to raise their aspirations for this key site.
“Cheltenham wants good design and we deserve much better than the poor architecture that has recently come forward for other key sites – for example, the old Black & White coach station site on St Margaret’s Road and the redevelopment of some Regency buildings in Winchcombe Street.”
Site owners, Canada Life Asset Management, have previously said they are exploring options with Cheltenham Borough Council to redevelop the building. Plans for the historic site may include “substantial town centre housing”.