Agenda item

The Cranbrook New Community Manager’s presentation outlined the current plans for inclusion in the Cranbrook town centre masterplan and advised that invites would go out shortly inviting members to meet next week to go through the final details.

These included:

·       Key routes in and out of the town centre;

·       Key pedestrian routes across;

·       TC3 link to supermarket;

·       Orientation of buildings to maximise hours of daylight;

·       Key viewpoints.

Following discussions with stakeholders the following key assumptions had been made which included:

·       DCC facilities will become part of Till House which will free up TC4b;

·       Cranbox will form one part of TC2 square;

·       Health and Wellbeing Centre and Leisure Centre will be in separate buildings as there is no capital budget available;

·       Drainage will be required on site;

·       Biodiversity Net Gain will be required on site to make it a greener town centre

Outstanding decisions included:

·       Whether a building is required for the Fire Station.  Risk review completed;

·       Size of the Tillhouse building;

·       Preferred size of the second square;

·       Preferred location of the Health and Wellbeing Centre;

·       Preferred location of the Leisure Centre;

·       Width of footpaths;

·       Precise alignment of road through TC4e;

·       Heights of buildings;

·       Quantum of car parking;

Group members viewed two town centre plan options and the Cranbrook New Community Manager asked group members to attend an in-person workshop to finalise the plans and to discuss the outstanding decisions.  Group Members were happy to meet either Wednesday, 25 September or Thursday, 26 September.

Clarification was sought about whether the town centre masterplan would be considered at the Strategic Planning Committee on 29 October 2024.  Devon County Council’s Principal Planning Officer advised that although there were ongoing positive discussions with Cranbrook Town Council it was not ready for a DCC Cabinet decision.  The Chair highlighted the urgency that a DCC decision was needed as soon as possible.

Responses to the outstanding decisions included:

·       It was suggested that the second square should be made into a square (same width as depth);

·       The width of the Tillhouse building would be determined by the width of the square and as deep as necessary;

·       Need a significant amount of car parking to make the town centre viable.  It was suggested to use Area D for more car parking provision;

·       Shared footpaths and cycle paths do not work;

·       Town Centre Plan – prefer option 2 as it has more car parking spaces and green spaces;

Further comments included:

·       There is a need to have a footpath link from the Tillhouse to the countrypark;

·       Support was expressed for the masterplan to remain flexible to keep spaces free to enable the town to grow into itself;

·       Reference to paragraph 15 of the report and whether a the sizes of the leisure centre and the health and wellbeing centre have been agreed;  The Cranbrook Manager advised that the NHS had confirmed a floorspace of approximately 3,000 square metres and the leisure centre was still to be decided but it would need to accommodate a 6 lane swimming pool;

·       The lack of water supply at the existing town centre needs to be rectified.

The Cranbrook New Community Manager noted all the points raised and advised these can be discussed during the workshop.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the progress made on the town centre masterplan to date be noted and the Cranbrook Placemaking Group provide feedback to guide the refinement and completion of the masterplan.

2.     That the town centre masterplan document be presented to Strategic Planning Committee at their meeting on 29 October 2024.