Chair of Romsey Future, councillor Nick Adams-King alongside head teacher Julie-Anne Palfrey and chair of governors, Liz Wagner with winner Annabel Blencowe (left), Toby Davies and Hadleigh Auger
Young designers pave the way for town masterplan
Three Romsey schoolchildren have collected their prizes after winning a drawing competition on what the south of Romsey’s town centre could look like.
The contest was launched at a number of community events as part of the Romsey Future partnership’s project to create a masterplan for the area that includes Crosfield Hall and the bus station.
Entrants from as young as three-years-old pitted their talents against anyone up to the age of ten by drawing what they would like to see in the area.
A range of designs were received and voted on at a Romsey Future event held in Abbotswood this month. Of the winning designs, all three were from pupils at Romsey Abbey Church of England Primary School and they were presented with vouchers from Roundabout Toy Shop in Romsey.
Councillor Nick Adams-King, chair of the Romsey Future partnership joined head teacher Julie-Anne Palfrey and chair of governors at the school, Liz Wagner, to present the vouchers to the winning pupils.
Workshops have also been held with more than 90 students from both Romsey School and Mountbatten School. Some of the themes suggested by pupils included sustainable travel methods, making the town more environmentally friendly and creating more spaces for younger people.
Councillor Adams-King said: “It is brilliant to have had input from the next generation in Romsey. We wanted to have as many people involved as possible and this drawing contest has done just that.
“All ideas have been welcomed no matter what age group it comes from. To have some of the town’s schools take part is hopefully a great sign of things to come as we move forward with the project.”
Head teacher at Romsey Abbey C of E Primary, Julie-Anne Palfrey said: “We were so glad to be able to have been a part of this process. What Romsey Future is doing will be a wonderful thing for the town I’m sure and it’s fantastic to know that our schoolchildren came up with some of the best ideas!”
In first place was six-year-old pupil Annabel Blencowe who produced a drawing of a bright blue splash park. Second was Toby Davies, ten, who designed a velodrome, football park and miniature railway. In third place was a design including a boat on the River Test alongside Romsey Abbey from five-year-old Hadleigh Auger.