Public Realm

The Public Realm Masterplan (PRM) (2025) has been produced by Planit on behalf of the Council. It sets out a clear vision for public realm within the town centre and identifies a range of gateways/arrival points, ways to connect to existing communities and better places/ spaces opportunities in the town centre.

The objectives of the masterplan are:

  • Create high quality places to build civic pride, to attract visitors, workers and residents and to increase dwell time and improve health and wellbeing
  • Create a public realm that reflects the heritage of Rugby
  • Provide opportunities for sustainable and active travel to support public transport access to the town centre as well as improving walking, cycling and wheeling.
  • Ensure that all improvements are adaptable to climate change
  • Integrate water management, biodiversity, air quality priorities, renewable energy creation as part of healthy streets and spaces
  • Enhance and connect green spaces across the town centre
  • Provide clear priorities for improvements and direction for future developments within Rugby town centre
  • Provide enhanced streets and public spaces for events – to include local businesses, cultural, community and voluntary organisations – adding vitality to the town centre.

With an aim of creating better places and spaces, 6 key projects (8 including street and laneway improvements) are identified within the Public Realm Masterplan. These projects are:

  • Project 1 – Clock tower to Old Market Place
  • Project 2 – The Stitch North
  • Project 3 – The Stitch South (including Pleasance Gardens)
  • Project 4 – Chapel Street Square
  • Project 5 – RAGM Entrance/Frontage
  • Project 6 – William Webb Ellis Park/Plaza

The Council is also producing a Delivery Plan and reviewing other land holdings which need to be taken into account before decisions can be made on delivery of all suggested projects within the Masterplan. Considering the above officers have sought to prioritise which projects to progress first based on the Public Realm Masterplan and the public and stakeholder consultation undertaken in September 2024.

masterplan
the stitch

The Masterplan identifies a range of hard and soft landscape interventions that could be undertaken over the long term across the town centre. This work will feed into the Delivery Plan which will be produced over the summer to create a pipeline of schemes including both public realm and other physical regeneration projects. Landscape interventions will also need to be flexible and adaptable as new development projects come forward over time.

‘The Stitch’ is a metaphor for binding the north and south of the town together and is represented by projects 1-3 and received lots of attention and positive comments from local residents in response to the engagement event.

Project 1 is identified as the central, catalyst project. As part of the Stitch, this becomes the central link of the area, giving the clock tower more room within its environment and providing a nicer place to sit and spend time in. The wider Stitch proposals (projects 1-3) would transform the route through the town centre, stitching the town together again by slowing vehicle speeds, removing pedestrian barriers, introducing regular courtesy crossings, with the aim of reducing vehicle numbers and making it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to inhabit and navigate through.

Projects 1-3 are deemed to be the most transformative for the town and therefore is the first priority project to be taken forward with the central area (Market Place to Old Market Place) being the focus.

public realm visual

The Public Realm Masterplan sets out the high-level proposals for the priority projects and the wider town centre. The schemes therefore need to be drawn up into a detailed design based on detailed surveys. Projects 1 to 3 are in essence one high level strategic project which abut each other. It is therefore necessary to progress all three projects together. The funding for the next stage of this project was considered at Full Council on 23 April 2025 and the project is underway.

the stitch