Accrington Town Square
Accrington has many of the essential ingredients required to be a thriving and successful modern market town with its own challenges. To tackle these, the Town Centre Investment Plan was created with the help of the Accrington Town Centre Stakeholder Group and Accrington Town Centre Partnership Board. The Town Centre Investment Plan will guide investment over the next 10 – 15 years.
The plan for the Market Chambers is to renovate and repurpose the building as a centre celebrating local history and culture. As for Burton’s Chambers, the intention is to convert it into a flexible workspace offering different rental options – from individual desks to small offices or larger premises as businesses expand. However, it is to note that further undertakings are actively in progress to refine the details concerning the intended design and prospective operational strategies for the Market Hall and Burton’s Chambers. Likewise, for the Market Chambers, work is still underway on the design process.
PLACED were commissioned by Rider Levett Bucknall, working with Hyndburn Borough Council, to run a pop-up engagement stall as part of the launch of the temporary outdoor market in Accrington Town Square.
“PLACED’s pop-up engagement activity helped us to reach out to users of the market as we celebrated the opening of temporary market stalls while Accrington’s beautiful Market Hall is being renovated. Their work helped local people, including local children, share their views in a fun way on the future of the renovated market and what types of offering and facilities they would like to see inside!”
– Rider Levett Bucknall
What we did
As part of the project, we engaged with the community through a pop-up event to gather their views on how the Market Hall should develop, including what market stalls, food and drink stalls and play features should be provided. We also asked what people think of Market Chambers and Burton’s Chambers buildings. We set up some questions and activities to collect people’s views through a pop-up event at Accrington Market Square on Saturday, 16th March 2024.
The pop-up was well attended and participation was broad in terms of age, gender and ethnicity, although these demographics were not monitored and people could participate freely.
Outcome
Community members suggested to preserve the traditional market feel for Market Hall Stalls with a balance of permanent and pop-up stalls. Affordability and accommodating working families were important. A mix of affordable options including cafes, international cuisines, and independent traders was suggested. Incorporating affordable and inclusive play features like indoor climbing and interactive play were popular among received comments. For Market Chambers suggestions included community spaces, venues for events, and facilities for activities and Burton’s Chamber received mixed views on co-working viability, with calls to revive previous business support initiatives.
Overall, participants emphasized the need to draw people and businesses back into Accrington town centre for any redevelopment to succeed.