The Urban Design Framework for Stratford-upon-Avon represents one of the single most comprehensive and adventurous projects ever devised for an historic town.

One of the most far-reaching strategies ever designed to boost the image and sustainability of an historic town has been unveiled, with the publication of proposals to reinvigorate Stratford-upon-Avon as an international tourist destination.

The multi-million pound vision for the town includes replacing and refurbishing areas of 1960s and 1970s development that sit uneasily with the town’s historic core of heritage buildings.

The overall aim is to breathe new life into the town's economy and underlying the proposals is the aspiration to not only revitalise Stratford, but also to create a more coherent linkage between its constituent parts, so that specific areas of the town do not appear separate – or cut off – from the others.

While exciting new ideas and development proposals form the central content of the World Class document there is also an absolute determination to protect Stratford’s impressive legacy of historic buildings and improve the public environment surrounding them.

Equally to the fore is the ambition to maintain the quality of life enjoyed by residents, while providing opportunities for high quality tourism to flourish.

The document's proposals have been welcomed by the Government, with Tourism Minister Margaret Hodge saying: "Stratford is a great tourist destination. We want more and more people to visit and take in the wonders of this historic area. I wish World Class Stratford every success."

All key areas of the town are identified for improvement between now and 2020 if the World Class Stratford plans are fulfilled, especially the vital gateways that create the all-important ‘first impressions’ to visitors.

By far the single most ambitious project involves the development of the Bridgeway area of the town – a site the size of Stratford’s ‘core’ centre – which is currently isolated from the historic town centre by the unpopular and confusing gyratory road system. The area has no heritage features and is dominated by buildings designed in the 1960s and 1970s, which add little to the town’s international reputation or appeal.

Ideas and proposals for the Bridgeway area include:

• A wetlands park and associated wetlands visitor centre, adjacent to the River Avon
• A major new cultural attraction on the site of the town’s existing leisure centre (which would be relocated)
• A new access-only road to the site
• New formal gardens
• A refurbished and expanded Holiday Inn hotel
• New “lanes” to the riverside marina, featuring small shops and bars

Other visionary proposals put forward today are the development of a new

Canal Quarter, with shops, restaurants and walkways; the redevelopment of the Town Square shopping centre; the refurbishment of the town’s famous Rother Market and the redevelopment of the so-called “Rother Triangle” that fronts the market area.

Partial pedestrianisation of Bridge Street, the thoroughfare that leads to Stratford’s medieval Clopton Bridge, is also recommended.                                                

The proposals complement work to re-landscape an adjacent site on the banks of the River Avon – the Bancroft Gardens – together with the £112.8 million redevelopment of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which is already underway.

	Stratford Vision (low resolution) (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 5.03 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 19.7 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD Chapters 1 & 2 (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 2.6 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD Chapters 3.1 (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 3.4 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD Chapters 3.2 (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 2.6 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD Chapters 3.3 (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 5.7 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD Chapters 4 (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 1.7 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD Chapters 5.1 (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 5.1 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD Chapters 5.2 (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 1.8 MB
	Stratford UDF- Final SPD Chapters 6 & 7 (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 1.7 MB
	Sustainability Appraisal Report - Final Stratford SPD (This link will open in a new window) Date: Oct 07 Size: 0.52 MB