Bedford Borough Council Wins £2m from Historic High Street Fund

Bedford Borough Council has won £2m from Heritage England's Historic High Street Fund for a regeneration project centred on Bedford's historic High Street.

Commenting, Mayor Dave Hodgson said: Dave Hodgson, said: "This is an outstanding achievement by the council team and we have worked hard to ensure that Bedford's bid for the High Street Heritage Action Zone was chosen. This shows confidence in our vision for regenerating Bedford as the High Street is a key element of our plans to create a more vibrant, thriving town centre despite the challenge high streets are facing nationally. Working with Historic England and local partners this funding will help us bring about real physical improvements to the appearance of our important streets and buildings."

The heritage action zone project follows another Council-led regeneration project for the High Street area, namely the Townscape Heritage Initiative which saw a series of properties restored and enhanced. This included the historic properties at 1-4 St Paul's Square, with the listed buildings brought back into use after over fifty years as new affordable homes.

Bedford Borough Council's regeneration plans for the High Street also include a scheme to increase pedestrian space and enhance the environment for shoppers and visitors by reducing the width of the road to a single lane for traffic.