Urban design team Create Streets call on residents at Lichfield Christmas Fayre to help design new Birmingham Road Site proposals

The Create Streets team specialises in working with local communities and residents, putting a focus on designing places that are beautiful, sustainable and also popular with locals.

Create Streets will have a stall outside Lichfield City Council’s office, Donegal House, on Bore Street, during the Christmas Fayre from 12noon onwards, offering residents the chance give their views on how they would like any new development to look and what it should offer to enhance the city centre.

For the past decade, Create Streets’ founder Nicholas Boys Smith has been at the forefront of challenging poor quality development that persists across much of the country.

In June this year Create Streets and Lichfield District Council teamed up to start engagement work with local residents and stakeholders on new plans for the Birmingham Road Site, focusing on how it should look, feel and function.

Residents were invited to use the ‘Create Communities’ website to have their say on preferences for building styles and also register their favourite, and least favourite, spots in the city.

Feedback from the online platform and Sunday’s event will then help shape the design of the site in the next phase of development.

David Milner, deputy director at Create Streets said:

"At Create Streets we are challenging the current convention of community consultation. We believe that you, the residents who live in Lichfield and know it best, should be involved from the outset. We are delighted that the Lichfield District Council has asked us to play this role for the design of new homes, apartments, space for businesses and new streets on the Birmingham Road Site. We warmly welcome you to join us, this Sunday, to design a new piece of Lichfield at our stall on Bore Street, outside Lichfield City Council offices.

 "This community co-design event is a real chance for residents to shape the future of their town centre. Residents will have their say on how the Birmingham Road Site will look and function, and this will feed directly into designs for the proposals.

"Considering how beautiful the centre of Lichfield is, there is a generational opportunity to match its rich character, make the city more beautiful and create a first impression of Lichfield, as you step off the train, that we are all proud of."