Philip Gamble: freeg131

So Watford Borough Council have come up £4.3 million which they want to spend on improving the “top of the town”. Which as consultation plans roughly show, is the area from just south of the Pond stretching up to the far end of the underpass.

I’m sure I’ve seen plans for a renovation of the “civic quarter”, just north of this, before but nothing seems to have come of them.

Landscape architects BDP are behind this latest spruce-up-your-town plan and have set up a blog WhatIfWatford as part of the consultation process.

Over recent years through reports in the local paper there seems to have been somewhat of an obsession with reducing the size of the pond and talk of urban beaches and outdoor icerinks so I expect whatever happens we will see the pond shrink.

The consultation comes amid accusations from the Police that nightlife has left the town centre is out of control – still it appears the actions of drunken revellers have a lot to compete with for the prize of worst behaviour in Watford town centre.

Perhaps one of the most obvious changes in recent years in this area has been the overhaul of the underpass in summer last year. It is now brighter, lighter and actually not too ugly in its latest incarnation as a white walled “art gallery” showcasing scenes and people from around Watford.

The consultation boards can be found here. Designs are due to be completed by the middle of the year for feedback with work commencing in 2013.

Photos: Underpass – staticgirl, Pond- Jamie Moore. Both CC BY-NC 2.0.