BEXLEYHEATH: Comments sought on plans to transform area

THE time is almost up for people to have their say about how to transform Bexleyheath Broadway.

Bexley Council has been consulting people for nearly two months on ideas for the pedestrianised area of Bexleyheath's town centre and the west end of the Broadway where the pedestrianisation ends.

The council has brought in consultants, Urban Practitioners and CCP Architects, to help put together ideas, as well as using new techniques such as "walking audits" where local groups and businesses walked the area together, noting their likes, dislikes and ideas.

Bexleyheath is London's 18th largest shopping centre with an annual turnover of £153.6m but councillors say the Broadway could be made more attractive to shoppers and people who live and work there.

The two parts of the Broadway are distinct and so are their problems.

For the pedestrian area, the question is how to make it a livelier, friendlier place.

Suggestions include:

l making the Market Square a focal point which could include a glass covered cafe;

l an outdoor cinema, with films projected onto an existing blank wall;

l a temporary stage or bandstand for open air concerts and events;

l feature lighting and street performances including children's entertainments;

l a broader range of outdoor cafes and restaurants;

l speciality markets and

l a piece of stunning public art to link the pedestrianised area to the west end of the Broadway.

Parking problems, poor signs and lack of green spaces and unattractive shop fronts make the west end of the Broadway an unappealing gateway to the town centre.

Ideas for improvement include:

l extending the pedestrianised area's attractive lighting columns and other features into the rest of the Broadway;

l lots of tree planting, decorated with pea lights;

l reducing pavement railings;

l more seating areas sheltered by plants and flowers and

l improving the appearance of shop frontages.

Details of all the proposals and an online questionnaire are on the website www.bexley.gov.uk/bexleyheathweped. The closing date for comments is this Friday.

January 27, 2003 18:30