Keswick Town Centre: a Masterplan in a nationally significant landscape
We have been commissioned by the Keswick Area Partnership Ltd to prepare a masterplan for the town centre. This work will include a review of the existing strategy for the development of the town and will inform the review of the Lake District National Park Authority Local Development Framework and provide a basis for investment decisions by partners and investors.
The brief for the study highlights a number of issues including balancing the needs of residents with those of visitors, creating a more diverse and sustainable community, squaring the conservation-development circle and addressing the lack of affordable housing in the town.
These are complex issues with no simple answers. The Lake District is a nationally significant landscape, cultural and environmental asset with unique qualities. At the same time, Keswick needs to evolve and change. We are delighted to be involved in plans for the town.
In the first stage of the study, the consultant team carried out an extensive programme of site visits, research, analysis and consultations, the results of which are summarised in this report and recorded at greater length in a separate baseline report. In the second phase of the study, the consultants developed six strategic themes for the town in response to the issues raised in the first stage of work. Within these themes, 22 project headings describe a range of aspirational and practical projects for the town.
The focus for this report is Keswick town centre but the rest of the town is necessarily part of the study area. The importance of connection between the town centre, the lakeside, public parks and the countryside beyond has meant that a wide geographical area has been embraced around the central core. Also, because some of the larger scale development opportunities lie just outside the retail core it has been necessary to look at the town in fairly broad terms.
Our co-consultants are yellow book, Martin Stockley Associates, Ryden and Nicola Atkinson (NADFLY).
