Between 2020 and 2024 a High Street Heritage Action Zone was established, with £1.1m grant funding from Historic England, together with £200,000 funding from us and Keynsham Town Council. This four-year scheme delivered:
- Improvements to Temple Street, including hard landscaping, greening and street furniture. Read our public realm case study
- Renovated and enhanced historic shopfronts. Read our shopfronts case study
- Arts, community engagement and a cultural programme
Find out more on the HiKeynsham website. Or read about the core Keynsham High Street improvement project on our dedicated project webpage.
Keynsham Town Centre Regeneration Action Plan
The Keynsham Regeneration Action Plan develops learning from the Heritage Action Zone project, the masterplan that was developed for the town, and a scoping exercise and public engagement which took place.
This project identifies opportunities, develops a programme of projects, and includes baseline evidence to help secure funding to improve the town centre. The action plan will be developed with Keynsham Town Council and local stakeholders, and public consultation will take place in 2024/25.
Keynsham town centre is a designated town centre in the B&NES Local Plan. The Regeneration Action Plan will be guided by the existing Local Plan and will feed into the development of the new Local Plan.
Housing and employment growth planned for the town and surrounding area means that there will be more reliance on the town centre for facilities, services, employment, and entertainment.
In Keynsham, focus is likely to be on improvements to the vitality and viability of the town centre. There are opportunities to:
- improve public realm in Temple Street and Upper High Street
- refurbish vacant units
- investigate pedestrianisation of the High Street
- improve wayfinding
- green the High Street
- hold activities to tackle the ecological and climate crisis
- make further shop front improvements
- focus on high street renewal activities such as community & cultural events and markets
While Keynsham High Street faces challenges, recent changes have made improvements to the High Street and raised community interest. However, there are still opportunities to improve the quality and resilience of the High Street and make it an appealing place to visit.