Nearly £1m is to be invested in a shopping street in Ipswich to redevelop the area - and you can have your say. 

Arras Square has been chosen as a part of the Ipswich Borough Council’s initiative called the ‘Turning our Town Around’.

Improving the area outside the refurbished Buttermarket Centre came top in both the borough’s official poll and in an online poll organised by Ipswich Star.

The project is financed from the council’s £3millon funding to improve the town centre and will cost £900,000.

Ipswich Star: Arras SquareArras Square (Image: Newsquest)

Arras Square will see improved lighting, seating, paving, and new foliage to create a welcoming and open green space.

Ipswich Borough Council is working closely with Erect Architecture and members of the local access forum group to design this public space in a way that will be consistent with the surrounding area.

Ipswich Star: Arras Square will be revamped as part of a £900,000 project.Arras Square will be revamped as part of a £900,000 project. (Image: Ipswich Borough Council/Erect Architecture)

Members of the public are now being asked to vote on proposed designs for the engravings in the square.

This includes choosing their favourite design for the new amphitheatre seating area.

There are three designs to choose from. All of them pay homage to the military personnel who fell in the Battle of Arras in World War One. 

Ipswich Star: An artist's impression of Arras Square.An artist's impression of Arras Square. (Image: Ipswich Borough Council/Erect Architecture)

They will include poetry design, mythical creature drawings and arches that relate to those in Arras, France.

Ipswich Star: Arras SquareArras Square (Image: Newsquest)

The Arras Square project is planned to be completed in the summer of 2024 and aims to turn the space into a community area that can be enjoyed by everyone.

Ipswich Central chair Paul Clement said on the project: "Arras Square could be a really exciting place but it needs more than a straightforward repaving job. I want the council to show the ambition to do something really special there."

Ipswich Star: Ipswich Central chair Paul Clement Ipswich Central chair Paul Clement (Image: Newsquest)

The council is also looking at smaller improvement schemes suggested by people who took part in the consultation – including Norwich Road/St Matthews Street, Carr Street, Upper Orwell Street, St Helen’s Street and Fore Street.

Join in our poll to say which design is your favourite here.