A £120,000 project to see how people walk around Colchester town centre has been commissioned by the borough council.
Space Syntax's study will help develop a master-plan which will underpin the overhaul of the St Botolph's area.
The work also considered how different design options in the St Botolph's area would make the town centre more unified and easier to get from one side to another.
Space Syntax was the most expensive of all the consultants who applied for the council contract.
Yet today, even critics of the use of consultants have backed the council's decision to spend far more on Space Syntax claiming it was "light years ahead" of the competition.
The regeneration programme includes Queen Street, Vineyard Street and the St Botolph's station area.
The council has chipped in £100,000 towards the consultant's fees, with Essex County Council putting in a further £20,000.
A separate review of the way consultants are used by the council is currently being carried out.
But the council today defended the way the cash has been spent claiming it will help unlock millions of pounds of investment in the town centre.
Ian Vipond, head of environmental policy at the council, said the £120,000 being spent was small in relation to the scale of the St Botolph's regeneration package.
He said: "It might seem a large sum when printed but it is a relatively small element of the whole project."
Published Friday, August 1, 2003
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