Camberley High Street has been shortlisted for the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) Awards 2022 in the category of Creating Better Places.
Surrey Heath Borough Council in partnership with Project Centre have been shortlisted for the CIHT Awards, following work to transform Camberley High Street into a thriving hub of activity and community.
The award from CIHT recognises how outstanding design and implementation of schemes in our towns and cities improve the places around them and create places for people. The panel will be looking for schemes that enhance their neighbourhoods, integrate with communities and are inclusive.
Through improving the town’s public realm and connectivity, new quality standards have been set as the streets have become more accessible to residents. By implementing pedestrian and cyclist-friendly areas, it develops an environment that encourages active travel while improving the public realm.
Public engagement helped to provide design and traffic teams worked to deliver technical phases of the project, achieving:
- Revitalising the main streets – we reduced vehicle traffic and reorganised the streets, through implementing appropriate layouts and traffic calming elements
- Accessibility strategy – we provided an inclusive design with clear demarcation of disabled bays, footways, and tactile paving
- Planting strategy – our proposed seating planters softened the town centre as well as it upgraded its biodiversity
- Lighting Strategy – we implemented cost-efficient and easy-maintenance energy, providing character definitions of different spaces
- Public art – we worked with stakeholders and partners to implement multiple forms of art and aesthetic spaces, inspiring a sense of local ownership within the community
The project improved the public realm by creating high quality walking and cycling infrastructure (from zero cycle stands to 25) and increased the footway space by over 20%, encouraging the community and the businesses to spill out.
Commenting, Mike Short CBE Chairman of the Enterprise M3 LEP, said:
"We are delighted to be supporting this project, which underpins our plans for economic growth and better quality of life.
"These improvements to Camberley Town Centre will help meet the wider challenges and objectives identified in our Strategic Economic Plan by promoting town centre renewal to secure inward investment and create vibrant communities."
