In this month’s Civic Matters column, Gill Pawson, chair of the Vale of Evesham Civic Society, talks about how members have been volunteering to improve the look of the town centre and working to complete the actions identified in the town council’s Town Plan Review document.
By Gill Pawson
At the beginning of this year, Evesham Town Council (ETC) published a review of its town plan.
The original document was published in 2015 and following a consultation, the public was asked what changes and actions they wanted included for the next few years.
I was asked to work on this up-to-date version which focuses on issues in the town that the council can influence or has responsibility for.
Vale of Evesham Civic Society members have been helping to deliver the actions identified in the Town Plan Review regarding the environment, visitor economy and the town centre.
Picture by Marcus Mingins 3525003MMR4
We regularly walk around town removing the numerous out of date event posters and the cable ties/tape that hold them in place on poles, empty shop windows and BT boxes.
To reduce this ongoing problem, we contact the organisations responsible to remind them of their duty to remove them after the event. It’s worth remembering that fly-posting is a criminal offence.
We have surveyed all of the bus shelters in town and identified an urgent need for cleaning and repair. The council now has the budget and measures in place to regularly maintain the shelters.
We also carried out a survey to identify 60 benches in the town centre, many of which have been repaired or replaced, with financial help from the Evesham Place Board.
A survey of the paved areas in the town centre has resulted in Worcestershire County Council Highways Authority removing all of the tarmac ‘cow pats’ in Bridge Street and replacing them with appropriate pavers.
More work is scheduled at the top of Bridge Street and Market Square once the scaffolding is eventually removed from the Round House (former Natwest building).
We have also fostered good relations with Wychavon District Council (WDC) which has repositioned the litter bin at the top of Bridge Street next to TG Jones and installed a larger one in Market Square.
It is hoped that as a result of this hands-on approach, residents and visitors are noticing an improvement in our public realm. Our members are trying to help create a feeling of belonging and pride in our town.
There has been a lot of progress made on issues affecting our town centre buildings this year.
Contractors for the Almonry have been appointed, an announcement is expected on Riverside in the new year and restoration work to the Round House will be completed soon.
May 2026 bring with it a positive new chapter for Evesham.
Email [email protected] to get involved and follow us at facebook.com/EveshamCivic to keep up with the latest developments.
