The community-led development project we’re working on in Southmead is making waves in the town planning community.
Monday morning saw representatives of Nash Partnership and community engagement specialists Streets Reimagined visit the new Somerdale/ Chocolate Quarter development in Keynsham to attend the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) South West Awards for Planning Excellence.
The awards celebrate exceptional examples of planning and the contribution that planners and planning make to society, through helping to transform economies, environments and communities. The team had been shortlisted for an award, with five other projects reaching the final, including our ‘placemaking framework’ in Bedminster Green and our estate regeneration project in Taunton. The regeneration of quarries in Dorset; the renovation of the Grade II-listed Swanage Pier and the regeneration of the Somerdale site itself were also finalists.
Our Southmead project was ‘Highly Commended’ (the second highest award), being celebrated in particular for the quality and extent of the work done in engaging with the Southmead community in preparing both the masterplan for Southmead centre, and the planning application for the first phase – the development of Glencoyne Square.
The event involved presentations from four of the finalists, lunch and then a tour of the Somerdale Site, led by the winning team.
Photo credit – Beata Cosgrove Photography