The Town Centre Development
For over 10 years, the council had proposed to allow a Sainsbury's supermarket to be built in Cawdor Quarry, a disused quarry next to the railway station. In early 2007 building work started, and it was opened on Thursday 4 October 2007. The access road for the supermarket forms part of a new one way system, whereby the A6 bypasses the town centre. A footbridge from the railway station allows pedestrian access to the supermarket from the town centre. A newly built bus station next to the train station is intended to create an integrated transport terminal. However, several bus routes will continue to serve only the old Bus Station on Bakewell Road, making Matlock one of the smallest towns in Britain to boast two bus stations.
There has recently been a negative image of Matlock Town centre due to the limited retail offer for a town of Matlock's size which was identified in the Matlock Masterplan - a document produced by the district council. There has been a worry that many locals now choose to shop in neighbouring towns due to this perceived problem. The local council had a wider development planned for the future with key development sites on Bakewell Road, Firs Parade and Imperial Road which were identified in 2007 in the masterplan.
In 2010, Crown Square was much improved with the replacement of pavements and street furniture for a new look which is more appropriate to the conservation area, the old tarmac pavements and traffic island being rebuilt in genuine local sandstone, barriers replaced with heritage bollards and all the street lights replaced. Bakewell Road and Firs Parade were not included in this phase of improvement work as they are just off Crown Square, and along with Imperial Road they are still yet to be redeveloped.
Read more about this topic: Hall Leys Park
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