Residents unimpressed by Burton upon Trent £1.3m revamp

The council spent £1.3m revamping Station Street

A town's regeneration project will be reviewed again by a council after residents gave it a lukewarm response.

More than £1.3m was spent revamping Station Street, Burton upon Trent, by East Staffordshire Borough Council.

But only 60% of 235 people who responded to a council survey felt the work carried out was worthwhile.

The project has seen the street given a facelift from 2020 with new planters, paving and trees among the features added to the area.

In the survey, one person said the area "really looks run down already" and they were "expecting more", describing it overall as "lacklustre".

Another respondent described the project as a "huge overpriced waste of money" and called the new planters "rusty flower (weed) beds".

'Improve shop fronts'

Others felt the planters were a nice addition but wanted more attention on improving shop fronts, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

More than 90% of those who replied to the survey felt the work had done nothing to increase the variety of businesses in the area.

But this was disputed by council officials in a report as they said several businesses, which included four new bars and restaurants, have recently moved into the street.

Footfall had also increased in the first three-quarters of 2022 compared to 2021, they added.

Councillors at a meeting of the authority's cabinet debated whether to make changes to the planters.

A decision was made to improve them to avoid wasting money which had already been spent.

Leader Mick Fitzpatrick acknowledged the scheme had divided opinion and pledged to review the project early in 2024.

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