Guisborough town centre public realm works

You can see the latest plan for Westgate and Chaloner Street HERE

We have put together a list of frequently asked questions below, but if you don’t see the information you are looking for, please click the QUESTIONS tool below

Frequently Asked Questions April 2025

Why is money being spent on Westgate?

In 2022, the Council had an opportunity to bid for £15 million of funding from Government to help regenerate Guisborough.

Our vision was to deliver a range of environmental and accessibility improvements within the town centre that would maximise Guisborough’s potential, building on its current successes and character.

Officials from Government visited Guisborough in January 2022. As part of their visit, they looked at the town centre’s strengths and recommended a number of interventions to help revitalise the area. Their report recommended the following:

• Public realm improvements – which means tidying the area up with planters, benches, and lighting;
• Shopfront improvements in line with heritage standards;
• Improvements to pedestrian access and movement at Chaloner Street.

Our plans were pulled together, using these findings and in discussions with Ward Councillors and Cabinet, with the aim of enhancing the town centre, improving people’s visitor experience, driving growth, promoting Guisborough as a market town and ensuring future sustainability.

Our bid was then signed off by the former MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Sir Simon Clarke, before it was submitted to Government.

Throughout this whole process, we have understood how important the historical character of Westgate is to our residents, businesses and visitors, and this has been central to our plans.

How about use the money to brush up the historic buildings and make Guisborough more attractive to tourists and the people who live here?

As part of the Guisborough Regeneration Programme, the Council is offering grant funding support to enable businesses to make improvements to their shop frontages in line with heritage standards

Picture above; Sophia Jo Bridal and Prom, based on Church Street in Guisborough has recently undergone a dramatic transformation, thanks in part to a grant obtained from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

More information on these Grant can be found HERE.

They need to sort out the crime before doing stuff like this?

Renewing the CCTV system throughout the town centre is part of our plans. This will provide clearer, higher resolution images moving forward. We work closely with Cleveland Police in our efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour across the borough.

Has there even been a public consultation on what people would like to see?

We have engaged with local schools, local businesses, local residents via Facebook/online and held multiple drop-in sessions. We also held accessibility group sessions.

A regeneration group was also formed specially for this project, so the Council could work closely with the local community on key decisions. People who form this group include ward councillors, local business owners, the town council and representatives from various community groups. We also met with representatives from the market on a number of occasions. Engagement sessions with the Regeneration Group were held in November 2023 and February 2024 where emerging designs were shared with the group inviting comments and discussion as feedback.

Key themes coming out of the meetings were the importance of the existing cobbled surface, overall surface materials, design approach around Sunnyfield House and other key spaces, parking capacity, CCTV, crossings, the market and planting maintenance.

A public consultation event was held in person, an exhibition in Guisborough Library, which was also available online from March to April 2024, where members of the public had the opportunity to look at the proposals and express their views on the proposed design. These consultation events were also promoted on our Facebook page and also via the former MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Sir Simon Clarke.

The designs were amended accordingly following the feedback we received throughout all the engagement activities.

We also included an update in the August 2024 Di-Rectory magazine which is distributed over 8,500 Guisborough residents and businesses.

Is the Market moving to the Market Cross?

No. The proposed works do not relocate the Market from its current position. The plans show that increased infrastructure such as electric power points are being introduced within the existing market location to improve the current offer for the stall holders.

The Market Cross area offers the opportunity for future events, including an overflow for the market if required.

The plans are a combined effort between the Town Council, Borough Council and the market’s manager and have been put together to include infrastructure to enable growth of the market and the High Street as a whole.

It's a historic market town, the cobbles should be kept, that's what gives it charm & character. We don't want a concrete jungle.

The cobbles on Westgate are a key part of the town’s character – we agree. The vision is to retain as many of the existing cobbles on Westgate as possible.

However, it is proposed that some cobbles are lifted, where necessary to enable the following;

• To improve accessibility on disabled bays
• To widen footpaths;

Any cobbles that are lifted, we plan to reuse within the scheme or elsewhere within the Guisborough Regeneration programme.

The vision is to use heritage, natural stone materials throughout, including new Yorkstone paving on footpaths in the centre of Westgate and Chaloner Street. It is not the intention to use concrete materials.

Instead of this why can’t they do something for the kids and young ones?

A separate project will see improvements made to the play provision at King George V. This will include a new skate park and the replacement of recreation apparatus that will help to promote natural play.

This will increase the usage of King George V Playing Field and encourage physical activity to provide health and wellbeing benefits to local residents, especially our younger residents.

Will this result in loss of parking capacity?

There are no plans to reduce formal car parking spaces, but we are working to maintain the existing capacity. There are also no plans to change the 2-hour free parking as part of these works.

Why are the new crossings required?

Currently, the pedestrian crossings are located around the Market Cross and one opposite Greggs. We want to make it easier and safer for disabled people, wheelchair users, and for people pushing prams or with young children to move across the road.

Our proposal is to add one signalised crossing near Guisborough Library and the western amenities.

The originally proposed crossing near the Morrisons corridor will no longer proceed.

The signal crossing past New Road is strategically placed, as the nearest west bound crossing is near Westgate park. This will also serve for those getting off the bus to cross safely, providing better access for those walking from North to South from the library to New Road.

Does it have Planning Permission?

Yes, a planning application was submitted and granted by the Local Planning Authority to undertake the proposed works. There are a number of documents which make up this application. The full application can be viewed at; https://planning.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk

The application refence number is R/2024/0422/F3M

Who will do the works?

We've appointed Esh Construction, following a competitive process. Esh Construction is among the approved contractors within our procurement framework. Esh Construction demonstrated value for money including what they could offer in terms of social value to the Redcar and Cleveland area.

When will the works start?

Esh will be working with us over the next few months to finalise technical designs and specifications as well as undertake business engagement to agree a phased delivery plan, aiming to minimise disruption and mitigate the impact on businesses, residents and visitors as best as we can during the work. We will share the details of the phased delivery plan with businesses and residents as soon as possible. We plan to start on site after the summer holidays.

Where will the works start?

A phased delivery plan is being worked on as part of the final design process and will be made available as soon as possible. We will share the details of this with businesses and residents as soon as possible.

UPDATE ON BAKEHOUSE SQUARE

You will notice some works back on site at Bakehouse Square through April.

This is to replace some paving around the Town Hall and to carry out drainage works by the park entrance. The works are being carried out by a local business subcontracted from Seymour Civil Engineering and will take approximately four weeks to complete.

Later in April, utility boxes and street furniture around the Town Hall and Bakehouse Park will be painted.

We thank you for your patience whilst we address these outstanding works.

We have pulled together a list of frequently asked questions for Bakehouse Square, which we’ve received on social media, on our website, and through your ward councillors to try and keep you all as up to date as possible on the regeneration developments. You can read these HERE