The Dovercourt Public Realm Scheme is Government-funded through the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Capital Regeneration Projects fund, which is a sister fund of the Levelling Up Fund, and Essex County Council. The funding was awarded to Tendring District Council specifically to deliver proposed public realm improvements along the Kingsway corridor. The proposed improvements were submitted in a Levelling Up Fund bid by Tendring District Council in summer 2022.

The funding for the scheme has been awarded to Tendring District Council specifically to deliver proposed public realm improvements along the Kingsway corridor and cannot be used for other purposes. The proposed improvements were submitted in a Levelling Up Fund bid by Tendring District Council in summer 2022, having been identified as an important priority as part of the Dovercourt Town Centre Masterplan.

While the funding cannot be used for highway maintenance, it should be noted that the Government recently announced Essex will receive £121 million of funding for road repairs and resurfacing between now and 2034 following a reallocation of funding from the HS2 scheme.

The built environment in Dovercourt is currently constraining the visitor experience. In consultation on Dovercourt Revisited (the town centre masterplan), the most common response from attendees on what they disliked about Dovercourt town centre was the quality of the street scene, with 88% stating their first impression of the town centre as unwelcoming and untidy.

Poor public realm also reduces commercial and residential property prices, hindering the potential of the town centre to attract and invite confidence for investment.

To unlock the growth required to support wider regeneration of Dovercourt, attract new businesses and investment, and bring forward major development, improvements to the town centre infrastructure and public realm are required to drive commercial demand, improve investor confidence, and create a town centre which is more inviting to residents and visitors. By making Dovercourt a more attractive and welcoming destination and increasing footfall in the town centre, new businesses are more likely to be attracted to the area.

Significant investment is being made in Harwich and Dovercourt through the Dovercourt Capital Regeneration Projects, including the Dovercourt Public Realm Scheme. This demonstrates recognition of the area’s huge potential and a shared desire to build on the significant opportunities and economic boost which are anticipated to come with Freeport East.

The package of projects being delivered through the Dovercourt Capital Regeneration Projects, which includes a separate scheme to refurbish Harwich Library and create a new Adult Community Learning skills centre in the building, is the next phase in realising the vision set out in Dovercourt Masterplan Revisited. The programme aims to revitalise the tired and under-utilised town centre and improve outcomes for residents and businesses through regeneration.

Together, the series of proposed projects will help create much-improved public spaces and facilities for local residents, as well as providing high-quality housing to support local need and better access to training and skills.

More information about the other schemes being delivered as part of the Dovercourt Capital Regeneration Projects is available on the Tendring District Council website.

Separately, Tendring has also been named as one of 20 areas to be involved in a Levelling Up Partnership with Government, with a total funding pot of £400million to be shared across the areas.

Beyond the regeneration projects being led by Essex County Council and Tendring District Council, Bathside Bay (known as Freeport East Harwich) has the potential to become the southern North Sea’s leading Green Energy Hub, drawing inward investment from Europe. It could deliver 3,500 jobs and unlock wider growth and regeneration in the area. 

The town’s High Street was chosen by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to be part of the new High Street Accelerator Pilot Programme. A new forum will be set up led by local businesses and charities, with Tendring District Council (TDC) – which put forward Dovercourt for the programme – also represented. It will receive £237,000 to spend by March 2025; this will enable the forum to get established, set a vision and deliver projects agreed by it. The forum will also be able to apply for specific government funding for some schemes.

As the funding for the Dovercourt Public Realm Scheme is ringfenced, funding will not be able to directly support businesses or improve shop frontages along the Kingsway corridor. However, the proposed public realm improvements aim to help attract more visitors and increase footfall in the town centre which will benefit existing businesses in the area. There may also be separate future opportunities for businesses to apply for funding through Tendring District Council and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Based on the current programme, construction of the scheme is estimated to start in summer 2025 and is expected to take approximately 18 months. As with all construction projects, this is dependent on a number of factors and processes and remains subject to change. Construction will be carefully managed to minimise the impact and disruption for local residents and businesses.

We have aimed to retain as much of the existing parking in the area as possible, particularly outside Dovercourt Railway Station. In this area, we are proposing to rearrange the existing parking spaces and use road-level block paving to visually enlarge the forecourt area while still maintaining parking. A total of nine spaces are currently proposed, including designated pick-up/drop-off and accessible spaces.

To create additional space outside Harwich Library, the footway will be built out into the carriageway which will require the removal of a small number of existing parking spaces. However, we are proposing to extend the existing parking bays on Kingsway near the junction with Marine Parade to the start of the proposed raised table to help mitigate for the loss of spaces outside the library.

We are not proposing to make any significant changes to parking in other areas, such as Marine Parade, as part of this scheme.

It is standard to have fees at car parks and Orwell Place is managed in the same way as all other TDC owned car parks across the district. Parking is free after 11am for residents who have a vehicle registered with the TDC householder parking permit. Blue Badge rules are the same as elsewhere also.

The proposal in the Dovercourt Masterplan for this site includes a parking allowance for the new homes, and some on street parking. Tendring District Council are aware of concerns around the proposals to locate housing on the site of the Milton Road car park and are looking into alternative locations for this aspect of the scheme. The project has to deliver a housing element as this has been agreed with government, however if the housing element moves, we will have the option to retain some parking at the site.

Dovercourt Railway Station and the station building are owned by Network Rail and leased to Greater Anglia as the train operator. While we are proposing to make improvements to the station forecourt as part of the scheme, we are not able to make further improvements to the station or station building. However, Essex County Council is keen to work with Greater Anglia to explore potential opportunities for the station building to be brought into community or commercial use.

Tendring District Council has agreement to purchase these sites and once this is completed will explore options for redevelopment.

As part of the Dovercourt Public Realm Scheme, we are proposing a series of improvements in the forecourt area outside the library building to create an attractive new public space. There are also separate proposals to refurbish Harwich Library and create a new Adult Community Learning skills centre in the building as part of the Dovercourt Capital Regeneration Projects. Although these improvements are being delivered as part of the same programme, they are separate to our proposals for the Dovercourt Public Realm Scheme. Further information about the library proposals is expected to be available next year.

A number of pedestrian improvements will be made along the Kingsway corridor as part of the scheme to improve connectivity between Dovercourt Railway Station, the town centre and the seafront. These include enhanced footways throughout the scheme, with high-quality natural stone paving at key public realm focus areas (railway station forecourt, library forecourt and Queen Victoria statue area) and improvements to the overall corridor with good quality standard concrete paving. There will also be improvements to crossing points along the corridor with dropped kerbs and tactile paving to enhance the pedestrian experience and to encourage Safer, Greener and Healthier modes of travel.

At the High Street junction, where the B1414 Kingsway and the B1352 High Street intersect, improvements will be made to the existing controlled pedestrian crossings on all four arms of the junction. Imprinted asphalt surfacing will be used to clearly highlight the crossing areas and existing tactile paving will be retained. The junction surface will be highlighted with coloured chippings as a traffic calming and visual enhancement measure, highlighting this key junction on the High Street.

Pedestrian crossing points will be included on the raised table on Marine Parade, with tactile paving, imprinted asphalt surfacing at the crossings and coloured chippings on the raised table. This will help clearly highlight the pedestrian priority at the junction and act as a visual traffic calming measure.

A new 20mph speed limit is also proposed on Station Road, Kingsway, Marine Parade and adjoining roads to help make the town centre a safer and more pedestrian-friendly place.

Although this project is primarily a public realm scheme, it provides the foundation for further planned investment in walking and cycling infrastructure across the area. A countywide Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) is in development and proposes new connecting routes from residential areas to key employment sites.

As part of the Dovercourt Public Realm Scheme itself, we propose to retain existing cycle stands outside the railway station and library, while we are also proposing advanced stop lines for cyclists at the High Street junction.

The planned new 20mph speed limit and other traffic calming measures will also help reduce vehicle speeds further and create a safer environment for people to cycle.

The proposed new 20mph speed limit would be legally enforceable. However, there are currently no plans to introduce speed cameras in the area as part of the scheme. The current average speed in the area is only slightly over the proposed 20mph speed limit and it is felt that speed limit signage, the proposed raised table and other design elements will all help highlight the pedestrian focus of the area and reduce vehicle speeds further.

Having completed our initial proposed designs for the Dovercourt Public Realm Scheme, we encouraged residents, businesses and visitors to provide their feedback through a public consultation.

The consultation opened on Wednesday 29 November 2023 and closed on Tuesday 16 January 2024.

The main components of the scheme are largely determined by what was included in the Levelling Up Fund/Capital Regeneration Projects bid and the funding we have available. However, the public consultation was an opportunity to have your say and the feedback has been used to help shape the finer details of the scheme so it best meets the town’s current and future needs.

The findings of our consultation can now be read in our consultation report.