SOME exciting new designs for Crediton will be on display in the Town Council Chamber in Market Street during the weekend of the Crediton Food and Drink Festival (Saturday and Sunday, June 18 and 19).

The exhibition, organised by Crediton Town Team, will feature an artist’s ideas for new road signs at the entrances to the town and drawings by three local architects of possible weather protection schemes for the town square.

Charlotte Turner, a local community artist who for four years has led the designs for the High Street flags project,  will be displaying her ideas for new town entrance road signs.

These will be based on all the ideas collected from local people, and especially High Street traders who pitched their thoughts on what should be highlighted to visitors as they drive into the town. 

In addition, the Town Team has been thinking again about the “knotty” problem of weather-protecting  the town square.

After talking extensively with people living around the square and with the many groups that use it, there are two main challenges: Firstly, people want to see the sky and feel strongly that the openness of the square is really important.

Secondly, community groups face the heartache of spending months organising an event, only for it to be rained off. Audiences and visitors also face the risk of being soaked. According to a 2012 Met Office report on climate change, there is going to be more unsettled weather in years to come.

So, six months ago  the Town Team  challenged three local architects to work on a range of  design concepts which met both of these criteria.

It was a tough challenge but the results are both exciting and very different. Their work has been supported by a small grant from Mid Devon District Council. 

During the Food and Drink Festival, the preliminary designs for these two projects will be on display. They are concepts only, not finished proposals, and are, as such, very much “work in progress”.

The three architects and Charlotte, will be on-hand to answer questions. The Town Team will record visitors’ views and publicise the results. 

People are invited to take part in the process by looking at the designs, talking with the designers and making suggestions. 

The council chamber will be open from 10am to 3pm on Saturday, June 18 and 11am to 3pm on Sunday, June 19.