Revamp plans for Queen Victoria Square

NEW plans are being considered to give Hull's largest public square a major makeover.

The move to upgrade the city centre's Queen Victoria Square is part of wider £23.5m proposals to smarten up streets and open spaces in the city centre between now and 2016.

Queen Victoria Square was first laid out more than 100 years ago and over the decades it has become a focal point for the city centre, recently playing host to thousands of Hull City fans celebrating the club's promotion.

However, planners say it badly needs updating to make it more attractive and to promote easy pedestrian movement between different parts of the city centre.

Now, a new action plan covering potential development in the city centre over the next decade says the square and its immediate surrounding area should be given a facelift.

Initial ideas include:

Improving its overall layout.

Reviewing the future of the bus route through the square.

Revamping the historic Beverley Gate feature to open up the entrance to Whitefriargate.

New landscaping in Queens Gardens.

Together, the two facelift projects for the square and the gardens have been provisionally costed at £6.6m using today's prices.

They form part of an overall £23.5m package of measures aimed at sprucing up the city centre and linking it with new developments being built on the River Hull.

Mark Jones, Hull City Council's regional development manager, said the proposed policies in the City Centre Area Action Plan reflected the importance of open public spaces.

He said: “The vitality and viability of the city centre relates as much to the appeal of its open spaces as its buildings.”