Or did I dream it? No! it's real!! BBC NEWS | England | Coventry/Warwickshire | Coventry £1bn redevelopment plan
What do you get for a billion nowadays? More importantly, Whose billion is it?

you may well ask. And also who decides what to spend it on.
About 18 months ago there was an article in the Coventry Telegraph telling us that Coventry had been given----or had found enough money to renew all of the street lights in the whole of Coventry and it was to start immediately. Ihave the date somewhere.
Iremember it well because , more than lighting we needed footpaths and roads repairing, but no-the wise men of the City decided to use it for lighting --against all opposition.
Can't say I have noticed new lights anywhere-maybe there were a few Ihave missed.
However..last week it was announced ---massive headlines in the Telegraph that Coventry had been given a grant to renew all of the lighting in the city.
Now- what happened to the other money?. Whose pockets did that go into.?

It's private money from developers plus some from the council. There are three major landowners involved - Modus, Morley and the City Council.

This is very good news. Coventry City centre is an absolute mess, having been subjected to a series of botched attempts at regeneration over the years. This has left the city centre disjointed.

Added to current developments in the city - the big development at the Butts (Which is going to be home to a government department), the relocation of Severn Trent to a new office building near the police station, and developments such as Friargate & Belgrade Plaza - this is good. Hopefully they'll get it right this time!

Apparently, a masterplan will be made public this year...
However, one of the companies who owns part of the shopping area actually sold it and the other one has been cancelling shopping developments around the country.

Has anyone seen this masterplan?
It all looks big and flash (Six new towers?) but seems to be a rehash of old ideas rather than bold and new.

Still, there's some good ideas in it... Recreating medieval streetplans, for example, and making the layout of the precinct different.

On the negative side, it's still just a vast precinct area all prob with the same style of building.

Hell Leofric, long time no see.

I haven't seen the plans, are they online anywhere?

Coventry City Council: City Centre Regeneration

I feel quite cynical about this new plan,but hopefully I will be proved wrong.
Iget the feeling that the new designers will disregard all that has been done in the past and sweep all before them with this new overall plan.
Also I cannot believe that anyone is going to be thrilled at the idea of the unique circular market being moved, after all the hype this week of it's 50 successfull years.
Also the mess of new build will last for ever. By the time it is finished in a good few years time people will have gone elsewhere-who wants to shop forever in a building site--and our grand new centre will be empty again.
Did I miss a concert hall or civic centre on the new plan?
perhaps I need to look again.
I like the idea of opening up the river and making the town more attractive
but I can't see that although 'they' asked the people of Coventry what they wanted--that [I]this[/is it.

I feel quite cynical about this new plan,but hopefully I will be proved wrong.
Iget the feeling that the new designers will disregard all that has been done in the past and sweep all before them with this new overall plan.
Also I cannot believe that anyone is going to be thrilled at the idea of the unique circular market being moved, after all the hype this week of it's 50 successfull years.
Also the mess of new build will last for ever. By the time it is finished in a good few years time people will have gone elsewhere-who wants to shop forever in a building site--and our grand new centre will be empty again.
Did I miss a concert hall or civic centre on the new plan?
perhaps I need to look again.
I like the idea of opening up the river and making the town more attractive
but I can't see that although 'they' asked the people of Coventry what they wanted--that [I]this[/is exactly it.

ps I have looked at the plans and still can't find anything resembling a civic centre or concert hall which is deperately needed, so we shall all have to go to other cities or-- even Bedworth Civic Hall to see a big show.

It's the same old story isn't it? They pay lip service to the town folk and ask what they would like to see. Then find reasons to carry on with their own agenda.



That would make the town very attractive. It could be argued that it would cost money to do properly and they might not get a return for that. Equally it could also be argued that if the area is attractive surely more would wander and linger, maybe remember things they need to buy or buy additional things....

It's not the real river. It's a water feature that follows the path of the river. The river is too polluted to be opened up, apparently.

They didn't pay lip service- this plan was made up from the consulation.

I'm glad that horrible round market is going.

There is a concert hall/venue - it's labelled as the "Locarno 2".

I hear tonight that the whole Jerde project is OFF.
It has been decided to revamp what we have already. And so they should, but that means that the city centre will never be much more than a builders site.
What a peicemeal muddle the whole city is in, roads blocked off, others going nowhere, alleyways all over the place,and any building worth keeping gone or rotting.
Our once beautiful if tatty city has been ruined by outsiders...and they weren't even German.
And that hideous blue Ikea towering over what bit of skyline was left.
No wonder people despair and shop elsewhere

The area around the Coventry railway station could do with attention. The garden area with the wee train is nice but the shops and huge building that looks forlorn do nothing to make people feel welcome.

I would use Coventry more to get to work or home when there are no local services but if I was to get a bus for the remaining part of the journey then I am faced with the subway to the town centre to find a bus. No thanks, especially late at night or early in the morning and more so if it is dark.

I think that sometimes councils have grandiose ideas and not always within the realms of reality. Revamping would possibly cost considerably less but as cathidaw says:

the city centre will never be much more than a builders site.
What a peicemeal muddle the whole city is in, roads blocked off, others going nowhere, alleyways all over the place,and any building worth keeping gone or rotting.
Our once beautiful if tatty city has been ruined by outsiders...and they weren't even German.
And that hideous blue Ikea towering over what bit of skyline was left.
No wonder people despair and shop elsewhere

It's not £1 billion, but it's better than nothing...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-24972911