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The HISTORY of REDDITCH New Town

site alongside Walford Street, which would become a pedestrian "Mall". The new Market
would be on the direct circulatory shopping route, with access for market traders from a
service road on the east side.

The market would be enclosed by shops with flats over, and was intended to create a
lively urban atmosphere which on sunny days would have a continental flavour.

The Vision - Public Buildings

Between the new Market and Church Green a site was reserved for the new Central
Library. Car parks behind the Market would serve the Library and a service road would
give access for Mobile Library vans. Reading rooms in the Library would look north onto
Church Green, which would provide not only a pleasant outlook but also comparative
quiet since, ultimately, all traffic would be taken out of the side of Church Green.

To the east of the main shops, a site would be made available for the future Council
Offices and Council Chamber. Again, access for motorists would be from a car park on
one side and on the other side for pedestrians from Alcester Street, which would be laid
out as a traffic-free precinct. Existing buildings on Alcester Street would have service road
access at the rear by an extension of Wellington Street.

New Offices for the County Council departments would be in the new Health Centre which
was being designed to go on a site at the rear of the Smallwood Hospital. The Health
Centre would ultimately provide accommodation for all the town centre doctors' practices,
particularly those in Worcester Road, who would be affected by the first stage of
redevelopment.
The Smallwood Hospital building would remain in use as a hospital until the proposed
District General Hospital was opened.

At the top of Unicorn Hill, a possible site for a new Assembly Hall overlooking Church
Green had been allocated. A site next to the Council Offices had been set aside for a
future Arts Centre, Theatre and Museum buildings. It' was not thought likely that these
proposals would be carried out until a later stage.

Redevelopment of the area between Church Green East/Alcester Street and the County
High School would depend largely on the land requirements and building programmes of
the County Council and Police Authority.

The Vision - Church Green

The Corporation proposed that the group of buildings along Church Green East and down
the east side of Alcester Street should be retained. Although most of the individual
buildings were not of great merit, as a group they epitomised the past in Redditch and
provided a pleasing foil to St. Stephen's. The Corporation suggested that they could be
designated as a Conservation Area under the Civic Amenities Act, 1967.
The gradual removal of traffic (other than buses) must be preceded by the creation of
adequate alternative means of servicing the premises, and a service road should be built
at the back of the shops and offices.

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