A Place to Live and Play
The town centre will increasingly become a place that people want to live in. A convenient and attractive town centre with a great range of activities and facilities on the doorstep.
The Emerging Town Centre Masterplan.
Mansfield, like other town centres across the country, has felt the effect of changing shopping habits. It is recognised that the town centre needs to adapt by offering a broader range of retail, leisure, cultural and civic services in order to remain vibrant.
Adopted Local Plan 2013–2033
A key policy in the Council’s Local Plan 2013 – 2033 is Policy RT2: Mansfield town centre vision and strategy. To promote and guide the vision and strategy, Policy RT2 required the Council, in consultation with key partners and the community, to develop a comprehensive planning/investment framework approach through the preparation of a masterplan.
The masterplan should, amongst other things:
- Identify issues, constraints and opportunities, potential new uses and key design requirements;
- Establish strategic requirements such as pedestrian and cycle routes, car parking, public transport and public realm.
To this end, the Council commissioned Allies and Morrison (urban practitioners) in partnership with Cushman and Wakefield (deliverability and viability specialists) and Urban Flow (transport specialists) to prepare a Mansfield town centre masterplan (Mansfield Town Centre Masterplan Draft September 2021). The draft masterplan has been consulted on and consideration is currently being given to the representations that have been made. This forms part of the additional information to accompany this brief.
Vision.
The overarching vision of the masterplan is to make Mansfield a liveable, vibrant town centre that people are attracted to and enjoy spending time in. The town centre will be transformed as new good quality homes are delivered within the boundary, generating footfall and making the town centre feel lively and busy during the day and into the evening. Town centre residents will benefit from the facilities on their doorstep as well as great connections to the wider region.
Key Principles.
Eight key principles are set out in the masterplan which are designed to guide new development, strengthen Mansfield’s USP and deliver the vision. They will help diversify the town centre and create new reasons to visit, improve the environment in the town centre and make it a more pleasant place to spend time, and enhance and celebrate the existing special character of the town centre.
The principles are summarised below:
1
2
A Place for Innovation and Education
As the largest town in Nottinghamshire, Mansfield will evolve as a key innovation and education hub.
3
Valuing Mansfield’s Public Space
A reimagined market square includes a space for markets with existing and new businesses, space for events but alongside a new green public space for the town.
4
Greening Mansfield
The town centre has a significant amount of hard-landscaped pedestrianised public realm. Opportunities exist to significantly increase the amount of tree planting and landscaping to deliver a broad range of more natural and formal green spaces in Mansfield.
5
Celebrate and Repair Mansfield’s Historic Fabric
Mansfield has a unique and characterful town centre due in part to its rich history and the varied architecture that is its legacy. Sensitive conversion and refurbishment will help breathe new life back into a number of these assets which are currently vacant.
6
A Connected Network of Destinations and Varied Characterful Routes
The historic street pattern of the town centre is one of its defining features. New development and public realm investment will need to strengthen the network of more intimate lanes and spaces to repair parts of the town where the historic grain has been lost.
7
Uniting the Town Centre with its Neighbourhoods
The town centre has a substantial walking and cycling catchment. There is an opportunity to better integrate local neighbourhoods with the town’s core by addressing the impact of the inner ring road and poor crossing facilities.
8
Providing a Welcome Worthy of Mansfield
Mansfield benefits from great rail and bus links and strategic destinations. An improved sense of arrival and better integration with the wider area will attract more visitors.
