Hucknall: Town Centre Masterplan Page 1 of 1
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Hucknall: Town Centre Masterplan Page 1 of 1 Shruti From: Gordon Hood [[email protected]] A report for Ashfield District Council by URBED Sent:URBED 19 February 2008 19:01 (Urbanism Environment and Design) together 10 Little Lever Street To: David J Rudlin; Shruti with Gordon Hood Regeneration and Simon Manchester Fenton Partnership Subject:M1 1HR CV Attachments:t. 0161 200 5500 CV – Gen - Jan 2008.doc; ATT7777974.htm email: [email protected] October 2009 David/Shruti,web: www.urbed.coop A downloadable version of this report is available from: Mywww.ashfield-dc.gov.uk CV as promised. as well as www.urbed.coop All the best, Gordon Gordon Hood GORDON HOOD REGENERATION Tel: 01625 411517 Mobile: 07515 397213 Email: [email protected] 20/02/2008 Theme 3 - A Good Day Out 37 Contents Theme 4 - A Bustling High Street 39 Theme 5 - Hucknall Facelift 41 Executive Summary Introduction 1 Part 3: Realising the Vision 43 Opportunities 45 Part 1: Baseline Summary 3 Principles 47 Hucknall - As it is 5 Options - Piggins Croft 49 Hucknall - As it was 7 Options - The Relief Road and High Street 51 Townscape - Character Areas 11 Options - The Station Approach 53 Market Assessment - Retailing 13 Options Appraisal 55 Market Assessment - Employment 15 Market Assessment - Housing 17 Part 4: Town Centre Masterplan 57 Public Realm 19 The Masterplan 59 Transport 21 Masterplan - Piggins Croft 61 Masterplan - The Relief Road and High Street 63 Part 2: A Vision for Hucknall 23 Masterplan - The Station Approach 65 Diagnosis - Hucknall’s position 25 Diagnosis - The Four ‘A’s 27 Part 5: Implementation 67 Consultation 29 Projects 68 Vision - Hucknall’s Heart 31 Implementation - Viability Assessment 72 Theme 1 - A Slow Town 33 Phasing Strategy - 2008 - 2028 75 Theme 2 - Work, Rest and Play 35 Glossary 76 Executive Summary In 2005 the Hucknall Town Centre Regeneration Board set out a vision for the town centre as a desirable place to visit and a focus for community activity and pride. Much has been achieved since then, particularly with the improvements to Market Place. This masterplan was commissioned to take the strategy to the next level. In doing so it responds to the new challenges that the town is facing as well as the opportunity presented by the approval of funding for the Hucknall Town Centre Improvement Scheme (HTCIS) which will see traffic diverted away from the High Street allowing a pedestrianisation scheme. This has been prepared in partnership with local people via a workshop in June and public consultations in the Market Place in July. It is now published as a consultation draft Hucknall is a historic town with a history Despite this the High Street has a relatively stretching back to the 7th or 8th century. low level of vacancy and remains lively, Newstead Abbey dates from 1170 and later particularly on market days. The centre is became home to the town’s most famous however vulnerable to competition as there inhabitant, Lord Byron who is buried in the are not enough attractions to bring people church yard. The town grew as a textile into town, particularly on non-market days. centre before expanding rapidly in the 19th The HTCIS is an opportunity to improve the century with the discovery of coal. In the quality and appeal of the centre. However, 1930s it became a centre for jet engine there is also a risk that the new road will technology when Rolls Royce established cause traffic to bypass the centre and a base in the town. However, by the 1980s make the edge of town retailing even more the railways had withdrawn and the attractive. This masterplan sets out a vision mines were closing sending the town into and strategy to help Hucknall face these decline. Recent years have seen a recovery challenges. The vision is based on five especially since the town became a themes: terminus for the Nottingham Express Tram To rediscover the roots of Hucknall as a (NET) in 2004. market town Create a rounded town centre where Today the centre of Hucknall is stable if people can work, rest and play as not thriving. The town is home to 30,000 well as shop by encouraging leisure people, a number that has fallen in the last uses, civic functions, cultural uses and decade. However there are plans to build community uses. 3,000 new homes in the town, which is a Make Hucknall a good day out so that great opportunity for the town centre if it the people searching out Lord Byron can attract their spending. stay longer and spend more money in the town. Hucknall is positioned in a very competitive Create a bustling High Street by part of the country. Midway between strengthening the traditional retail offer Nottingham and Mansfield and within easy of the town centre. reach of Derby Leicester and Sheffield, the Transforming the environment of the < 3D Aerial of Hucknall people of Hucknall have a lot of choice of town, particularly on the edges of the Town Centre Masterplan where to spend their money. It loses 45% centre and when arriving from the - Piggins Croft Area is highlighted of its comparison trade to Nottingham and station. here showing the mixed use centre < High Street closer to home much of its convenience - Visualisation of the redefined shopping is captured by the Tesco store on southern edge the edge of the town centre. The masterplan develops these themes The Station Approach: The aim of this and gives them physical form. The area is to link the town centre much more starting point for this was to look at clearly to the station with a new pedestrian all the potential areas of change in the route and visual connection. This uses the town. From this it was clear that there miners statue and the proposed refurbished were three main opportunity sites; 1) the Byron Cinema as landmarks to pull people Piggins Croft area, 2) the new relief road into town. The yards next to the station are and the land that it opens up, and 3) the proposed for residential development while land around the station and the NET car a deck is proposed for the NET car park to park. The masterplan seeks to use these increase its capacity. opportunities to create a physical form for the town that is able to exploit the above The three opportunity areas together with vision. The aim is to tie the town back other proposals for the town centre are together with strong visual linkages, a broken down into 29 projects. These have coherent public realm, a greater level of been appraised and costed and assembled activity and a mix of different uses. into an implementation strategy. The starting point is clearly the HTCIS now that For each of the three opportunity areas funding has been approved and many of we developed three options; minimum, the projects follow naturally on from this. medium and maximum intervention. While the development projects would not These options were assessed on the be viable in current market conditions (late basis of stakeholder support, viability and 2008), it is likely that they will be once deliverability, regeneration impact and the HTCIS is complete by which time the public consultation through the exercise market is likely to have picked up. Even in the Market Place in July. The results then the proposed workspace schemes on of this process was that we opted for the the new road and the new route from the maximum change solution on Piggins Croft station are likely to require public subsidy. and the medium change solution on the other two areas. The challenges that Hucknall faces are the same as those faced by many small towns. Piggins Croft: This scheme involves the As cities like Nottingham become stronger redevelopment of the retail units and car and the supermarkets attract a huge park in the area to create a £30 Million proportion of convenience spending, small redevelopment opportunity. This includes and medium sized towns risk being caught a new in town supermarket of 4,000m2 between a rock and a hard place. The (NIA) a series of modern large retail units, answer is not to compete head on but to housing on the upper floors and potentially diversify and to do what small town centres a new health centre. The scheme is based have always have done well – provide a on two new streets with a landmark heart for their community. Hucknall is well clocktower at their intersection. Parking placed to do this, it has a strong and loyal levels are maintained by providing a community and a growing population. Its decked car park. has a historic and attractive town centre and will see major investment through the The HTCIS: The scheme will involve the HTCIS. Now is the time to plan to make construction of a new road bypassing the the most of this once-in-a-generation High Street, allowing the High Street to be opportunity. Our hope is that this pedestrianised. The Masterplan proposes masterplan provides a vision, framework to build on this work to incorporate the and strategy to do just this. < 3D Aerial of Hucknall new road into the town centre, by linking Town Centre Masterplan - The station road link is highlighted here it to the High Street and developing sites showing the residential blockl opened up by the road for housing and < The Station Road office space. The aim is that it operates Link - Visualisation of scheme as a street in the town, rather than a motorway. Introduction This study was commissioned by Ashfield District Council to prepare a development strategy and masterplan for Hucknall town centre.