Plea for public's patience in Plymouth

City centre upgrade to be completed by Christmas

Plymouth’s city centre champion is asking for patience as work gathers pace to transform the heart of the city in time for Christmas.

Cllr Mark Lowry (Lab, Southway), who is also the council’s cash cabinet member for finance, said he understands frustration over delays to the city centre upgrade, some of which started in 2021, but good news was on its way.

“People will start to see just how much hard work has been put in before too long. The civic square will be complete within the next few months.”

He says phase one of the revamp of St George Street area and Old Town Street, near the sundial, which includes new ‘rain gardens’ as part of the Sustainable Urban Drainage System, will be complete by Christmas. The Guildhall had been given a clean-up and is looking “fantastic.”

“I accept people are frustrated, and rightly so, as many of the public-realm projects have taken far too long,” he said. “Lots of areas have been cordoned off, it doesn’t look great, but once the hoardings come down and people see what’s been done, we hope they will change their minds.”

As a former senior director at Babcock, the defence company, where he was responsible for Devonport Dockyard’s nuclear infrastructure,Cllr Lowry is used to working on large projects. He now intends to speed up delivery of the £7 million city centre upgrade and says it will be the catalyst for development and investment.

“Developers will see the city being invested in and see the opportunities to bring forward improvements in shops, bars and restaurants,” he said.

The council’s vision is to make the city centre a thriving place to live, work and play. It’s already topped one chart for having the best work-life balance in England, but Cllr Lowry says it needs more families living in the centre and more footfall through its streets.

“Our city centre has the same-size shopping areas as Birmingham or Liverpool, but it has a fraction of the population. There are only 1,000 people who live in the triangle of Armada Way, Royal Parade and up to Charles Cross roundabout. Most city centres have a lot more people in them and that makes a huge difference to their vitality.

“We need homes for families as well as students, as some people like living in the heart of a city with everything around them. They may not want a car but are happy to use public transport.”

With 12,000 people currently on the waiting list for homes in Plymouth, 5,000 dwellings could be created above retail premises, said Cllr Lowry. “Many of the spaces above our existing shops are not currently being used and if we convert these into homes it would go somewhere to helping our accommodation shortage.”

He admits it won’t be cheap, and money from both local and central government would be needed.

“Sadly, the economic environment is incredibly challenging at the moment and the government is London-centric. We are overlooked completely in the south west. If we were given higher priority developers would see it as a safer bet investing their money here.”

The council’s drive to increase footfall, regenerate the city centre and address its housing issues includes a revamp of the Grade II listed Civic Centre by developer Urban Splash, which should provide business space as well as more than 140 homes. A £25-million health centre at Colin Campbell Court in the city’s West End could conduct more than 300,000 blood tests and scans each year and is one of eight in the UK that has government backing.

There are plans to turn the city’s redundant Debenhams store into shops and 167 apartments, and more hotels are planned too.

In his 16 years as a councillor, Mr Lowry says he has wanted to help the people of the city where he grew up. He has been infulential in the Drake Circus leisure scheme on the site of the former bus station, a new city centre bus centre, relocating the library, and demolishing the “ugly” bridge linking Frankfurt Gate and the car park.

He said progress is being made against a very difficult backdrop and a decade of austerity. “The important thing is now that we get on and get the work finished and then we will see the benefits,” he concludes.