PLANS for the rejuvenation of a street once known as ‘Bond Street’ could be finalised early next year, with council officials asking the public what they want it to become.

Westover Road in Bournemouth has been taken over by BCP Council’s future places programme, with investment secured to breathe life back into the area.

And BCP Council deputy leader and portfolio holder for regeneration, Cllr Phil Broadhead, said he wanted to make the area a place people wanted to visit.

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He said: “If we really want to unlock the potential of our place, Westover Road is part of the job.

“We are working with world class professionals and are confident of having a good area to celebrate.

“Everyone appreciate Westover Road is an area of amazing potential. Since the cinemas have moved out it feels like it’s going downhill, yet it’s a beautiful area with beautiful architecture all around it.

“How can we unlock its potential?”

Cllr Broadhead said future places had taken the lead on Westover Road and have been conducting studies on how best to utilise the road.

He continued: “By early next year we will have a different vision for Westover Road and embodying it into our policy.

“It is an exciting development along Westover Road. Planning permission has been granted on both former cinema which is bringing a lot of homes in the area.

“More importantly, the planning means the bottom layers have to have active frontage. They could be shop fronts, restaurants, art galleries.

“My hope is by early next year to have something moving. For years I have had it on my list of wants to do.

“It is such a beautiful area. Now it feels a place for people to park. It has a real boulevard feel it has just been underutilised.

“I went to Harrogate and it feels like a place you want to browse. We just need something like that and to lock it all together.”

The councillor added plans were put forward a few years ago for Westover Road which were subsequently rejected by businesses who preferred the free parking option for customers.

He said it’s now about making the place somewhere people want to come.

He added: “We should be having some fantastic brands there, not big name superstores but really positive retailers.

“We are going to be finalising plans and I would love to know what people would like to see in Westover Road.

“Would people like it to be an emulation of the past? Would people like it to be an al fresco dining zone or would people think we just need to keep it with the parking and not look as pretty?

“It is a question we need to ask.”