The team spent the morning talking with 25 students at Andover College talking about careers, urban design and how Andover Town Centre could be transformed in the future. Following a group discussion the students worked together to come up ideas as to how they would like to see the town centre transformed.
A lot of great ideas came out of the session which the team will look to incorporate into the proposals moving forward.
The students discussed how the college could be better connected to the town centre with more and safer walking routes. They suggested the River Anton could be made into a more usable green space and that more green areas, seating and lighting could be provided to make it more welcoming and encourage people to spend more time in the town centre.
The students also looked at how the Chantry Centre could be redeveloped but felt that its current layout was blocking potential routes across the town centre. There was agreement that the town centre needed to provide a better variety of shops and services, including independent businesses, chain stores and leisure providers. In particular, the students were keen to see a variety of food outlets that catered for student budgets and more venues for live entertainment.
