‘Comical’ looking bench was the best approach
TAMWORTH Borough Council admit they recognise cutting round a bench to install hoarding “may look slightly comical” but stress it was the least disruptive approach and it will be back in full use once Tamworth town centre regeneration works are complete.
The bench, near to the mobility shop in Colehill, is engulfed in large parts by hoarding around the former Co-op store.
Many have questioned why and how this has happened.
One said: “Broken bench is saved by workmen doing the work in the town!”. While another posted: “Boarding around the building site next to mobility shop. The time and effort to cut the boarding. Why not move the bench?”
The Herald approached the council and asked for an explanation and Andrew Barratt, chief executive of Tamworth Borough Council, replied: “We recognise it may look slightly comical that we’ve cut round a bench to install hoarding around the former Co-op store.
“However, this was the least disruptive approach, to avoid encroaching on an existing operating business, and to maintain access to the nearby electrical box.
“Once our project to transform the former Co-op building into a second enterprise centre for new and small Tamworth businesses is complete, the bench will be back in full use.
“Our work on this building is part of Tamworth Borough Council’s ambitious £21 million regeneration plan to transform the town centre into a busy, thriving heart of the community.”
Tamworth Borough Council’s town centre regeneration project will deliver a new Enterprise Centre in the original 19th century former Co-operative building on Colehill, restoration and refurbishment of the historic vacant properties on Market Street opposite Peel Café, creating a wider footbridge into the castle grounds, redevelopment replicating the original Georgian style of the former Peel Café, bringing a building back into active use, Middle Entry renovations which will see some vacant units demolished to be replaced by a new flexible, multi-use building for independent small businesses and public realm works that will link all the projects together.
Additionally, South Staffordshire College is also building a new college facility replacing the demolished 1960s part of the Co-op building. Together both projects deliver a combined investment of over £40 million in Tamworth town centre.