Hundreds of people gather to view plans for Holsworthy regeneration

HUNDREDS of people descended on Holsworthy to view plans which will see the town centre getting a major overhaul.

More than 570 people visited the Memorial Hall last Wednesday for the exhibition which was organised by Holsworthy Town Council.

Projects including the regeneration of Stanhope Park, the building of the Agri-Business Centre, CCTV installation and general maintenance of the square were included.

These areas are included in the Holsworthy Town Centre Plan. The plan was created by the town council alongside partners including Torridge District Council and Holsworthy Chamber of Trade.

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The aim of the plan is to improve the town for people living there as well as encouraging visitors to the area.

Supermarket giant Tesco secured planning permission to build a store on part of the former Kivells livestock market site in the town.

Section 106 cash from Tesco will be used to fund the town centre regeneration.

Hannah Piper, 35, was impressed by the plans.

She said: "I have nothing but enthusiasm, this is the way forward for the town. Perhaps Holsworthy has been left behind in the past."

Hannah, who has two small children, is pleased about the plans for rejuvenating Stanhope Park.

Ideas to revamp the park include installing new children's play areas, a youth bandstand, sports pitch, skate park and picnic tables.

Hannah said: "I take my boys to the park in Bideford. It will be lovely to have a park on our doorstep which has some nice play equipment."

Town councillor Martin Prentice said: "It's good that people took the time to come along and give us their views.

"We have had 114 comment sheets. We are slowly working our way through them so that we can get a summary of the contents.

"A lot of the comments we had relate to housing, planning, roads, schools, sewage, traffic, parking and dog mess.

"Unfortunately the town council does not have jurisdiction over these matters. This lies with Torridge District Council and Devon County Council.

"However, the town council does raise, and will continue to raise, these matters with those two authorities.

"The general public can rest assured that the plans for both the town centre and Stanhope Park will happen."

Mr Prentice said the play equipment for the park will be installed by the autumn.

The town centre plan will be implemented when the S106 money comes through from Tesco when it starts building next year.

Mr Prentics said: "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve the appearance of the town, raise its profile and provide a range of excellent facilities."

A second consultation will be held on Tuesday, February 19 at the Memorial Hall from 7pm until 9pm.