The Shambles market renovation plans in Devizes get boost

At a special meeting on Tuesday, September 12, Devizes town councillors voted overwhelmingly to appoint a new architect to take forward a regeneration project for The Shambles in the Market Place.

The Shambles working party are now set to work alongside Devizes based firm Peter Kent Architect to develop a complete plan for the project and bring forward a planning application.

The vote marks a significant step in the long-term plans to refurbish the market, which would involve modernisation to improve insulation as well as redecoration.

Speaking at the meeting, town clerk Simon Fisher said: “The working party met with the architect to really get the project going again and move forward.

“We really want to get on with the project and get some ideas about what it will look like.”

At this stage no official timeline for the scheme has been decided and will have to be determined after the Shambles working party have met with PKA for further discussions.

Reacting to the decision, market manager Luke James told this paper he was pleased that plans to restore the building to “its original glory” were moving forward.

The Shambles in March (Image: Newsquest)He said: “I’m happy because this building needs some loving and we need it to do well for the local community, because a lot of people do rely on it.

“For us as traders it is quite cold in here during winter so having something more insulated and eco-friendly is beneficial to us.

“It would be a big thing for us to help the building thrive, it’s still historic and we’re looking to make it better and bring it back to its original glory by getting it in pristine condition.”

On October 31 the market will host a Halloween Extravaganza as part of a push to hold events.

This will see the market open for the evening to families during an event which will involve pumpkin carving, apple bobbing and a fancy-dress competition.

Mr James hopes this event, which is the “first of its kind”, will mark the start of an effort to bring more community focused events to the venue.

He added: “We’re trying to do more for the community here because a lot of people don’t know about this building and don’t really know about The Shambles itself.

“We’re taking on board criticism and feedback from customers to do more events, have more community engagement with people and bring more people in.”