Elements of the future vision for Lichfield city centre are to be debated by councillors next week.
Lichfield District Council’s cabinet will discuss a potential car parking strategy and a public realm proposal at a meeting on 9th November.
Cllr Doug Pullen, the local authority’s leader, said the items would be fundamental to the long-term redevelopment of the city centre.
“These two strategies are key to a pleasant visit into Lichfield.
“While I’d much rather see people arriving by bike, train or foot, if a car is necessary then we want people to be able to easily find and pay for a space across the 17 car parks we manage in Lichfield.
“As a beautiful cathedral city, we also want to ensure future development is guided by an over-arching theme, so the public realm strategy will help us with that.
“When we took our initial ideas out to the public earlier on in the year we got some great feedback and these proposals give us the opportunity to continue those discussions.
“Getting the quality, consistency and condition of street surfaces, signs, bollards, cycle racks, bins and seating is important for maintaining a consistent and long-lasting identity that can be enjoyed by residents, city centre workers and visitors to Lichfield city centre.
“Priorities for our car parking strategy are making sure that we have the right quantity and quality of car parks that are easy to locate, access and are safe to use with a range of convenient payment options for users.
“We also want to support carbon reduction and air quality management by providing additional electric vehicle charging points.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
“Long-term success of the city centre”
The Lichfield City Centre Masterplan was published in 2020 to help shape the future of the area and help guide future investment in the city.
The future of Lichfield’s central area has been in doubt ever since the collapse of the long-awaited Friarsgate redevelopment after more than a decade of planning.
Cllr Pullen said plans for the area left vacant by the demise of that scheme would be available soon
“I will hopefully have more to say in December about the proposals for the Birmingham Road Site that I want to be the springboard for discussion in the new year with residents and businesses on what the best solutions for the long-term success of the city centre look like.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
