West Suffolk Council and Haverhill Town Council launch engagement events to shape town centre revitalisation

25 Nov 2025

West Suffolk Council are working with Haverhill Town Council to promote and deliver two key initiatives, public realm lighting and town centre wayfinding, as part of a wider regeneration project. 

West Suffolk Council have appointed Studio Dekka, an independent lighting consultancy, to produce a lighting strategy to improve public realm lighting and make Haverhill town centre safer and help enhance the evening economy by encouraging people to visit businesses and arts offers in the town.

Studio Dekka use night walks to understand user perceptions and identify barriers and help to create better public realm lighting designs.  

Members of the public are invited to take part in a night walk on Wednesday 3 December 2025 to help provide insight to shape future plans.

Residents are also invited to a session on Thursday 4 December 2025, 11am-2pm at Haverhill Arts Centre to share their memories and stories about the town, its characters and the local landscape with artist Steve Pardue. This session will help shape the town centre wayfinding in a way that celebrates Haverhill’s unique identity, history and culture.

Full details, including how to sign up to the events are available on the Haverhill Town Council website.

Cllr Indy Wijenayaka, Cabinet Member for Growth at West Suffolk Council, said: “We are delighted to have secured these engagement events so local people can have their voices and stories reflected in the projects. This is an important first step in making Haverhill town centre more welcoming, safer and help foster a stronger sense of Haverhill’s unique history and identity. We hope this will help build momentum for more ambitious schemes in the future to cement Haverhill as one of our thriving towns.”

Quinn Cox Haverhill Mayor said: “We’re really excited to be working with West Suffolk Council, the artist Steve Pardue and other specialists who will be getting out into Haverhill, listening to people and uncovering the stories that make this town what it is. Haverhill has a bold, proud personality and a community that’s never shy about speaking up. That’s exactly what we want for this project. We want local voices, local memories, and local ideas shaping the wayfinding designs, so they feel unmistakably like Haverhill — created by the people who live here.”

A third initiative looking at renewing street furniture with coordinated, high-quality designs that enhance the streetscape and foster civic pride is also being progressed.

The Haverhill High Street Enhancement Scheme, launched in October 2024, aims to revitalise the town centre by improving pedestrian access, managing vehicle access, and boosting safety and economic activity. Specialist transport and public-realm consultants were appointed to support a steering group overseeing the scheme. Recent benchmarking work, along with the Town Centre Study and public feedback, has informed the development of the proposed initiatives.

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