River Biss plans go on show
2:40pm Thursday 13th March 2008 in Latest News By Benjamin Parkes
Regeneration officer Adam Nardell at the exhibition
TROWBRIDGE residents got a first glimpse of plans to improve the River Biss waterfront in the town this week.
West Wiltshire District Council is running a series of public exhibitions outlining the potential future for the river.
Using a grant from the South West Regional Development Agency, the district council has paid consultancy firm Halcrow to put together a report on the river and representatives were on hand to answer questions from members of the public during the exhibition day.
The event, held at the Civic Hall on Monday, attracted around 40 people throughout the day, despite the wind, rain and gales.
Nigel Albon is an urban designer with Halcrow. He said: "The river is hidden and inaccessible at the moment. We want to open it up to people by providing walkways and cycle routes along the length of the river in the town centre and all the way down to the Biss Meadows.
"We're putting together a report that the council can use to show developers how they can make the most of the river and make it a real feature of the town.
"We're planning new bridges, tree planting along the river walks, planting on the river banks and other enhancement measures to make it an attractive feature for shops, restaurants, bars and other developments to front on to rather than turn their back on.
"The river is very much part of the history of Trowbridge. It generated the cloth industry that made the town but since the decline of those firms the town has tended to ignore the river. We want to reverse that."
The company is set to hand over its report and advice document on the river to the district council in the next few months. Following that there will be a formal public consultation.
