North Station Road, in Colchester, to get £1m revamp

Colchester Council hopes to transform North Station Road by extending a town centre conservation area, which ends at the foot of North Hill, to The Albert roundabout.

The £948,000 scheme is dependent on a £649,000 grant application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, although bosses are confident of the bid.

The remainder of the cash will come from Colchester Council, Essex County Council and rail operator Greater Anglia.

Some 22 properties have been identified as requiring significant improvement, which will partly be partly paid for by the grant money as well as by each building’s private owners.

The move would also mean any new development must be to a higher standard, to meet with conservation area guidelines.

The plans would also see the bridge in North Station Road repaved with fresh Yorkstone paving and the bridge would also be lit up at night while a historic fountain at the western side of the foot of North Hill would also be given an overhaul and lit up from the ground.

A decision on the cash bid is due in May and, if successful, work would start late next year.

Simon Cairns, major developments and project manager at Colchester Council, said: “This area is actually an important and historic part of the town but perhaps has been a bit lost.

“For people coming from the train station, it is the door mat to the town.

“It is in this area that people form their perception of Colchester and it has a lot of potential, but it hasn’t be realised so far.”

Jane Thompson, transport planner at Colchester Council, said: “When people think of this area of Colchester, they probably think of it as a way to get somewhere rather than go to.

“We want to make it somewhere to go to for people who live here.”

There are also tentative plans to tidy up a dilapidated Essex County Council-owned space on the eastern foot of North Hill, beside Papa John’s pizza takeaway.

Early proposals are for a mural depicting the town’s history, a new building or even an area for a projection, which would change according to the time of the year.

The council also plans to work with North County Primary School and Essex University’s history department to identify stories which could be depicted on interpretation boards.

'Owners must get on board'

COLCHESTER Council bosses admit ambitious plans to revamp North Station Road will need the support of private property owners. 

At the moment, there are between ten and 15 landowners in the road, which cover a range of buildings dating from the Medieval age to modern extensions. 

Mr Cairns said: “The fact is, there will have to be a degree of selling the project on our part.

“One of the things we will have to decide upon is the proportion of the grant which is offered to the private owners.

“You have got to make it work for them by explaining the benefits and the uplift any work would give to the value of a property.”

He added: “In North Station Road, there is certainly a mix of outlets - you’ve got places with traditional fronts and places which aren’t quite so traditional. 

“If you had a street full of the more traditional fronts, for example, that would make a big difference.” 

Mrs Thompson added: “We believe those conversations need to be had, otherwise the property owners would have done it already wouldn’t they?” 

Owners have already been contacted by the council to make them aware of the plans.

Mrs Thompson added: “The response has been good but, of course, they want to know more about what the benefits are and what the real plusses would be.

“We’ll be doing as much as we can to help them on that as the bid progresses.”