Aldershot in emergency – a town centre conversation

aldershotcs

Aldershot Civic Society (ACS) will organise and host an open town centre meeting in response to the ongoing and recent loss of shops and activity and resulting poor state of Aldershot town centre. Members feel strongly that there is a need to get a conversation going that involves a broad range of local people. We will be creating opportunities for people to share their views and ideas.

Aldershot town centre is failing and we cannot just stand by. We need creative and ambitious solutions that are rooted in our community.

That’s why we’re starting a conversation in the town. To make this happen, we will:

    • Organise a series of events that enables people to engage with our concerns for the town centre, inspires people to come up with actionable solutions, and makes it easy and interesting for people to contribute their views and knowledge
    • Start by mapping our town centre to build our detailed understanding of the issues
    • Host a large ‘emergency town centre meeting’ calling to arms and focusing minds
    • Invite Aldershot’s community groups, institutions and businesses (and anyone else!) to join the conversation and movement for change
    • After this large event we will take our learning and do a series of smaller, more focused, facilitated events with specific aims and outputs
    • Alongside we will promote the conversation online and in town to raise awareness of the events and other activities, e.g. by putting up posters in town and handing out leaflets at targeted venues/locations
  • Enable people to contribute to the conversation even if they can’t be in the room, e.g. social media, website, by post, etc.
  • Produce a report on our findings to share with Rushmoor Borough Council and other local stakeholders

We are in principle supportive of Rushmoor Borough Council’s intent to redevelop key locations in the town centre, and wish to ensure that should this development take place it is in line with the community’s hopes and vision for the town centre. We also want to ensure a council development is successful and that any buildings developed remain in council ownership as an asset and provides a means of contributing to controlling the town centre’s future. Any development must build on the rich Victorian heritage of our town’s built environment, and must make the town centre attractive to shoppers, residents, visitors and businesses alike.

Join us and share your views so we can together make a difference to the future of Aldershot!