Improvements to Courtenay Street, Newton Abbot – what do you think?

Tuesday (August 24) sees the completion of a £93,000 project to improve Courtenay Street and provide new outdoor market stalls 

Using much of the funding from the national Growth Point scheme, the council designed and undertook the work to provide what they say is an “improved street layout” with covered market stalls, new benches and bins, improved planting and less clutter in the street.  

The new-look area will be officially opened at 11am on Tuesday. Throughout the morning shoppers can enjoy magic and balloon modelling by ‘Lez the Pirate Magician’ and music and song from popular visitor Jerri the Trumpeter.

The work followed recent work in Bank Street and Wolborough Street, which the council said improved the town’s main central shopping area with a consistent style and more practical layout for visitors to enjoy.

Tell us what you think? Does it make shopping a more pleasurable experience? Is there anything they’ve missed that they could have done? 

Cllr David Corney-Walker said:

“We’ve been delighted to make these great improvements to Courtenay Street, with the added bonus that most of the money came from central Government, not local pockets. With the looming cuts the message for Growth Point funding was ‘use it or lose it’, so we pressed ahead with this very welcome scheme.

“With less clutter, welcoming new benches, lighting and planting, better recycling facilities, and of course much improved outdoor produce market stalls, this project has helped Newton Abbot improve its already strong reputation as a bustling market town with the power to buck the gloomy national trend.”

Sally Henley, Town Development Manager added:

“Feedback on the improvements which have taken place in Courtenay Street is extremely positive. Shoppers and residents love the more open feel, the greatly improved seating, and the discreet positioning and facility to recycle of the smart new bins. The removal of all the metal work and of the redundant lamp posts has made a huge difference to the look of the street and it is wonderful to look down and see the beautiful trees (including the new one) and the smart new benches, without the eye being led astray by lots of clutter.

“The new Courtenay Street Produce Market stalls have also been very warmly welcomed. Not only are they very smart, they also provide important and much better protection for our traders for the days when the sun is not shining! The new positioning of the stalls in clusters, rather than in single file, also makes for a much more enjoyable shoppers experience. It encourages more browsing and now there is no need to perform a ‘mad dash’ from one stall to the other when it rains. One trader commented that our stalls are the envy of other towns and I am sure that word will spread and Newton Abbot will be top of the list for traders as well as shoppers!”