A RADICAL reimagining of Cirencester’s Market Place could become a reality after Cirencester Town Council submitted a full planning application for approval.

The overhaul will see Cirencester’s iconic town centre return to a more authentic image of a Cotswold market place.

Cllr Deryck Nash, lead member for estate services at CTC, said: “At last we have some proposals for the centre of our town that bring real improvements.

“The plans are a lot more modest than the original CTEP proposals but will go a long way towards making the Market Place a real hub for the community again.”

Kerbs, clutter and traffic lights will become a thing of the past with pedestrians being given priority over traffic.

It is hoped that a new “shared space” with high quality paving and a level surface between roads and pavements will encourage shoppers to freely roam the town centre.

Traffic will also be reduced to a single carriageway on the south side of the road to open up a pedestrianised zone in front of the Cirencester Parish Church.

The town council has announced that in addition to the existing plans, a number of bicycle racks and benches will be installed.

Cirencester mayor Joe Harris said: “This is a great decision for the town with a clear mandate from across the local community to deliver positive change.”

Speaking in June, Cirencester town councillor Geoffrey Adams said he felt a revamp of the area was long overdue describing the current market place as “a car park with a dual carriageway either side of it”.

He said: “It’s a fine plan and one that will benefit the town immensely. Cirencester, the so-called capital of the Cotswolds, deserves it.”

Martin Portus of Cirencester-based landscape artists Portus Whitton said: “The submitted proposals have not only complied with the prevailing policies, they have also brought a fresh vision, one that aspires to create the very best long term improvements to the Market Place and in a way that regenerate and reconnects the whole of the town.”

The application will now be sent to Cotswold District Council’s planning committee for consideration.