People and community groups are being asked to help improve the design of a multi-million pound development in the city centre.

Planning permission has already been obtained to build new housing and business space on the site of a former police station and NHS clinic in the middle of St Albans.

Now St Albans City and District Council, which is carrying out the transformational project, is looking to enhance the plans.

To do so, they are holding a community design review where options will be put forward, explained and discussed.

Feedback from the public meeting will help finalise the designs.

The event is to be chaired by an independent facilitator, Angela Koch of Imagine Places, and is being held between 6.30pm and 9.30pm on Thursday 10 January at the Civic Centre, St Peter’s Street.

Among topics to be discussed will be expanding a building to shield views of the Magistrate’s Court car park entrance and integrating the Quaker Memorial Garden.

Façade detail, for example at the corner of Victoria Street and Bricket Road, will also feature, as will the skyline of the whole scheme.

The street furniture, lighting and landscaping across the entire site will be a further subject for examination.

The development area is known as the City Centre Opportunity Site (CCOS) South and is part of the wider seven-acre site that surrounds the Alban Arena entertainment venue.

Developers Angle Property obtained the planning permissions for CCOS South which were adopted by the council on its purchase of the land.

Following the design review, it is likely that an amended planning application will be submitted next year.

Councillor Julian Daly, responsible for commercial and development, said: “This is the most ambitious development the Council has undertaken and we are determined to get it right.

“We took over Angle Property’s plans after making various land acquisitions, but we feel that major improvements can be made to the designs.

“The development is in the heart of St Albans, so it is vital that we carry the community with us and continue to have their active support.”

Anyone who wants to attend the Community Design Review should register online at: http://bit.ly/2CiHihs.

To view the current plans for CCOS South, go to: https://tinyurl.com/ya44w7oa