The regeneration of The Island, an historically significant market square adjacent to Midsomer Norton Town Hall, is now complete. This transformation delivers a high-quality public space designed to support cultural activities, markets, and civic events, enhancing the town’s vibrancy and community spirit. The Island’s first major event following completion was the annual Midsomer Norton Wassail, which marked the start of a traditional procession to celebrate the town’s apple orchards. The event, facilitated by Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES) was a resounding success, showcasing the value of investing in public realm regeneration.

The Design Challenge

The 1,000 sq.m. site had become an underutilised and unsafe space dominated by cars, with narrow, uneven footways that hindered accessibility and created an unwelcoming environment for businesses. Despite its prime location next to the Town Hall, its potential as a vibrant community space had remained unrealised.

Nicholas Pearson Associates was appointed as lead design consultant to develop a vision for regenerating the space. Working closely with B&NES regeneration team, we undertook stakeholder engagement and provided concept design, detailed design, and construction-stage supervision. Our collaboration with B&NES and Aecom, which provided engineering consultancy services, was instrumental in successfully addressing the challenges of the Site.

The £2.39m scheme is a key component of the Midsomer Norton High Street Regeneration Programme, a £3.7m initiative aimed at enhancing the town’s appearance and accessibility and supporting local businesses. The programme builds upon the success of the High Street Heritage Action Zone, with funding from Historic England, the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, B&NES, and Midsomer Norton Town Council.

Realising the Design

The public realm works, completed by main contractor Volker Highways, included significant structural reinforcement to a section of the River Somer, which flows in a culvert beneath The Island. The redesign prioritises pedestrian space by removing large areas of tarmac used for parking and realigning the through-road maintaining access for local businesses and residents. This reconfiguration has created a generous new public square adjacent to the Town Hall, enhancing opportunities for both indoor and outdoor community events. The addition of dedicated power supply units ensures The Island can accommodate events and markets of varying scales.

A key heritage aim of the project was to elevate the quality of the public realm. We carefully selected high-quality materials that complement the historic Conservation Area setting. Warm-toned natural stone flags and setts reflect the local White Lias stone found in nearby buildings, including the Grade II listed Town Hall. White Lias stone has also been used in a new seating wall that flanks the main events space, providing a welcoming and attractive environment. Additional seating and bike stands encourage active use of the space, while new street lighting enhances its night-time appeal, ensuring a safe and inviting atmosphere.

Two existing lime trees, valued by the local community and prominent in views from the High Street, have been retained and their growing conditions improved to the requirements of B&NES Tree Officers. The introduction of new planting beds and a tree enhance the site’s visual appeal. The new Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) tree, has been selected for its striking leaf shapes and autumnal colour. The planting scheme ensures year-round interest while also supporting biodiversity.

To balance accessibility with functionality, the scheme integrates parking for up to 10 vehicles, including spaces for blue badge holders. A flexible parking control system allows parking spaces to be repurposed during larger events and markets, maximising the site’s usability.

Stakeholder Engagement

Throughout the project’s development and construction, the B&NES project manager team maintained active communication with local businesses and the wider community, which helped to minimise disruption and foster support. Our use of high-quality visualisations (CGIs) played a crucial role in engaging stakeholders and illustrating the project’s potential. Seeing the transformation come to life through the construction phase has been incredibly rewarding, reinforcing the importance of high-quality public realm to regeneration projects.

 

The completion of The Island extends our strong working relationship with B&NES’s regeneration team and builds on our successful track record of delivering public realm and urban schemes for Local Authority and Private clients.  We look forward to seeing the long-term benefits of this revitalised space for Midsomer Norton’s community and businesses.