Timeline for transforming Tamworth town centre revealed

A multimillion-pound project to transform Tamworth town centre as part of the Future High Streets Fund is progressing, ready for construction work to begin next year.

Tamworth has been awarded an incredible £21.65m from the Government, which will be combined with funding from external partners and Tamworth Borough Council, to represent a total investment of around £40m.

While the individual projects were revealed earlier this year, work has been taking place behind the scenes to finalise details with town centre businesses, landlords and partners, get the delivery team in place and set up governance processes.

This week, members of Tamworth Borough Council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve the terms of reference, setting out how decisions will be made along the way, and the indicative project timeline.

The project will involve:

The relocation of Tamworth College, part of South Staffordshire College, to a new building on the site of the Tamworth Co-operative Society department store
Refurbishment of the locally-listed part of the same building (the Colehill frontages) into an enterprise centre for small businesses
Refurbishment and improvements to Middle Entry including a new semi-permanent structure for start-ups and niche businesses
The transformation of St Editha’s Square into a multi-purpose outdoor space
An improved entrance between the town centre and the Castle Grounds by enhancing the Castle Gatehouse area and adjoining Market Street properties.
The next phase of work will focus on the pre-planning stage, including specialist surveys, design and acquisition of sites.

Cllr Jeremy Oates, leader of Tamworth Borough Council, said: “We know the high street has to change and adapt, and if it all goes to plan, this project (together with the redevelopment of the Gungate precinct) will deliver on many of the themes Tamworth people told us were most important to them.

“We’ve now got to make it happen and there is plenty of work taking place behind the scenes to get everything in place ready to progress to the development phase, which will hopefully begin next summer.

“The meeting this week is about making sure the right decision-making frameworks are in place to enable the project to progress effectively with the correct governance and without delay.”

Cabinet will discuss the proposals on Thursday, June 17.