The Bristol office of international architects Aedas has drawn up plansto revitalise Keynsham's town centre and an application has been submitted to Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES) Council following a year of consultations with the local community.
The £34m project to redevelop the existing Town Hall site includes a mix of retail and restaurant space, a new civic building with an innovative one stop shop for people to access local services, plus a new library and performance space for community use and spaces for markets and events.
The hope is that regeneration of the town centre will help attract private sector investment and create new opportunities and jobs. It is part of an overall regeneration strategy which includes a £50m private sector investment in the former Cadbury factory site at Somerdale by Taylor Wimpey and redevelopment of the Riverside building.
The regeneration is also part of BaNES' plans to become even more financially efficient as it reduces the office space it needs from 12 buildings to four.