Riverside regeneration will include a bus station and flood-resilient buildings, council leader says

A bus station and flood-resilient buildings will be included in plans to regenerate the Riverside area of Shrewsbury, the leader of Shropshire Council has confirmed.

Councillors last month approved the submission of the first applications to begin clearing the area, with the Pride Hill and Riverside shopping centres, plus the former medical practice, first to be bulldozed.

The also voted in support of having detailed plans drawn up for a new council headquarters, leisure complex and transport hub, despite much of the land earmarked for development having been submerged in flood water just days earlier.

But Lezley Picton, Conservative leader of the authority, has now said the threat of flooding will be at the forefront of design considerations – rather than putting the plans on hold indefinitely in the hope of a solution eventually being found to end the devastation seen in the Severn catchment in the last three years.

She said this would likely mean the new buildings would be designed with public areas raised above ground level, in a similar way to Theatre Severn, to minimise any potential flood impact.

The regeneration also presents the change to incorporate flood mitigation measures, though Councillor Picton said installing barriers similar to those on the other side of the river at Frankwell would not do the trick as the biggest problem on Smithfield Road and surrounding streets is water coming up through the drains.

Councillor Picton said the Riverside plans presented a “once in a generation opportunity” to re-shape a key area of the town centre, with improved accessibility and a more inviting environment for residents, workers and visitors.

The scheme will eventually see Frankwell Bridge torn down and replaced, and the bus station and multi-storey car park demolished to make way for a transport hub, hotels, offices and up to 270 homes.

Smithfield Road could also be pushed back and a new public quayside created stepping down to the river.

The council will need to fund some of the work itself, such as the new headquarters, but Councillor Picton is hopeful of securing substantial private sector investment in the residential, leisure and hospitality aspects.

She said: “We have got lots of people interested in it. Shrewsbury has got a lot of appeal and has bounced back really well from the pandemic.

“And if we can get other people to invest in Shrewsbury then we can spend our money in other towns.”

Councillor Picton also confirmed a bus station would be included in the plans, though no firm plans are yet in place for what it might look like or where it will be located, with the council still awaiting the completion of ‘movement strategy’ as part of the Big Town Plan.

The strategy, commissioned after concern was voiced at earlier proposals to scrap the bus station altogether, is also expected to set out wide-ranging changes to car parking, traffic flows and active travel infrastructure.

She said: “There is going to be a bus station. It needs to be somewhere near the railway station, for me that is so important.

“We have absolutely got to get that movement strategy right because it also deals with things like whether we re-route Smithfield Road and the potential for removing traffic.

“The BID did a questionnaire and something like 80 per cent of their membership backed reduced traffic in the town centre – but there is a big difference between reduced traffic and pedestrianisation.

“People will always need to be able to drive into town, but that doesn’t mean to say that we are not keen to look at ways for reducing it.”