Cabinet agrees to create new 25-year city centre masterplan

On Wednesday (17 July) cabinet approved a new City Centre Masterplan for Doncaster, outlining a vision for the city by 2050.

The plan will incorporate funding set to be awarded to the council from the Long-Term Plan for Towns (LTPfT) and the Levelling Up Partnership.

Cabinet members also agreed to submit the city’s proposals for the LTPfT funding, which will see £2 million awarded to the council annually for 10 years.

Since 2016, the council has followed the Urban Centre Masterplan and several other frameworks, which will be replaced by the new plan.

Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: “As the North’s newest city, and with the national challenges over the past few years, it became obvious that we needed to review the direction of the city centre and we now have the opportunity with funding, to tackle this head on.

“As part of this, we launched the “Big City Conversation” a consultation survey aimed at residents and businesses to understand their views of the city centre and what they would like the city to offer. I want to thank over 8,000 people who took part as this has presented findings which will be fundamental to the creation and delivery of the strategy.”

The consultation found that safety and security was the number one priority amongst residents, followed by addressing derelict buildings and bringing heritage sites back into use.

Despite safety being most valued, 51 percent said that they feel very or somewhat unsafe when visiting the city centre.

Suggestions to improve upon this included an increase in visible patrols and enforcement, tackling begging, drug and alcohol use, improving cleanliness and addressing unused spaces.

Shopping was the most common reason for respondents to visit the city centre, with 65 percent stating that the quality of the city’s retail and shopping offer is extremely important.

Just 11 percent rated this good or very good however, with over half giving a negative rating.

As a result, the LTPfT will prioritise safety and security, with the entire first year of funding to focus on this.

Mayor Ros Jones has committed £1 million in advance of the funding for immediate safety interventions.

Funding will be used to increase patrol presence and CCTV and tackle anti-social behaviour.

Mayor Ros Jones added: “It is vitally important that the city centre offers both variety and safety and this will form a large part of the masterplan.

“Our residents and businesses need to promote the incredible opportunities within Doncaster, to encourage people to use and visit the city centre more.

“We must all tackle the negative perceptions so I would encourage people to come in and use the city centre and see for themselves the improvements we are making to make visiting Doncaster a unique and enjoyable experience, and a city centre that people want to keep coming back to visit.”

Details of the City Centre Masterplan will now be finalised, to be launched at the start of 2025.