Plans submitted for next phase of Smithfield Riverside regeneration

Led by the council and its development manager, RivingtonHark, Smithfield Riverside is the ambitious regeneration project set to transform the area between the River Severn, the Darwin Centre and Roushill in Shrewsbury town centre.

The first stage of the project – a landmark new public park alongside Roushill – was approved earlier this year. Funded by almost £19 million of Levelling Up money from UK Government, demolition of the Riverside shopping centre and the former Riverside medical practice is now well underway, with construction of the park scheduled to begin in early 2025.

The second planning application is an ‘outline’ application, which seeks to secure the principle of development for three key plots located between Smithfield Road, Raven Meadows and the new park on Roushill.

While the building proposals remain illustrative at this stage, the application will establish the key design, scale and massing, and use parameters that will guide the successful future regeneration of the site.

The application was informed by a second round of public consultation, which saw around 3,000 people engage online, 300 in-person engagements and over 200 people leave direct feedback.

In response to the feedback received, the latest proposals offer greater flexibility for the three plots, allowing for a complementary mix of residential, office and hotel uses. Additionally, the plans introduce an enhanced public realm offer to better connect the plots and integrate them more effectively with the surrounding area.

To ensure the development respects the scale and character of Shrewsbury’s historic skyline, the maximum building height for the plots have also been reduced by one storey compared with previous iterations of the plans.

Ian Nellins, Deputy Leader of Shropshire Council, said:

“We are pleased to see the second planning application for Smithfield Riverside submitted today. With the delivery of the exciting new public park along Roushill now in full flow, it’s great to see the next part of the long-term vision coming forwards.

“The council and our project team would like to thank everyone who viewed the outline plans for phase two and shared their feedback with us. This is a project for the whole of Shropshire and the comments we received have tangibly influenced the latest planning application.”

Spencer Winter, Project Director at RivingtonHark, commented:

“This is another important milestone in the Smithfield Riverside project. The second application provides the crucial guidance needed to ensure that any future regeneration on these three plots will be of real quality and be sympathetic to the look and feel of Shrewsbury town centre.

“The success of this application will help create the ideal environment and provide a real confidence that will help us to attract investment to deliver the long-term vision.”

Ben Sykes, Partner, Architect at FaulknerBrowns, added:

“The masterplan for the Smithfield Riverside project focuses on high quality public spaces and their pedestrian connections. We are so excited to have delivered this important design and led the design team to this milestone.”

The second Smithfield Riverside planning application 24/04476/EIA is now available on the council’s online planning register and a decision is due to be made at a Local Planning Authority committee meeting in March 2025.