ANNEX A TO ITEM 8 Central Bletchley Regeneration Strategy - Executive Summary Key Principles Use & activities Currently, Bletchley town centre remains comparatively unattractive to property developers and occupiers. The environment is out dated and creates a negative image for the town and its communities; reducing its ability to attract significant investment. This in turn has led to less people using the centre, creating lower expenditure and investment within the town. Bletchley needs to move forward from its existing primary role as a discount and value retailing location and strengthen its role as the second centre for the city of Milton Keynes. The challenge for the Framework is to create the conditions for Bletchley to promote itself as a place quite distinctive from the rest of Milton Keynes, yet complementary to CMK in its scale and richness of uses and activities. Achieving this will require the town to increase the diversity, quality and range of uses and activities offered in the centre. The Framework promotes the growth of key uses and activities including diversified mixed-use development; new retailing opportunities; residential town centre living; an evening economy with a range of restaurants, bars and cafes; employment opportunities to stimulate appropriate town centre employment; a new leisure centre and cultural and civic uses to fulfil Central Bletchley’s role as the city’s second centre. Access and Movement Pedestrian movement and cycle access throughout Central Bletchley is severely constrained by highly engineered road infrastructure, the railway station and sidings and through severance of Queensway caused by the Brunel Centre. Congested double roundabouts at Watling Street and Buckingham Road offer poor arrival points into the town and restrict car access into Bletchley. The bus station is severed from the core retail area and remains unattractive and the railway station entrance faces away from the commercial ‘heart’ of the centre. Both are illegible arrival points into Bletchley when arriving by public transport. These problems combine to offer a poor experience for all users of the town centre. An overwhelming challenge for the regeneration process is to substantially reduce severance and dominance of the car to provide an integrated approach to accessibility and movement which increases the propensity of people to use, visit, invest and work in Bletchley. The Framework identifies a series of key interventions that will help to integrate pedestrian, cycle and public transport movement; making Bletchley an accessible town for those travelling within it and through it. Through the delivery of the Framework, Bletchley will benefit from an enhanced modern transport interchange facility, L:\Committee\2004-05\CABINET\20 JULY 2004\20-07-04_ITEM08_ANNEXA.doc integrating rail and bus services, complemented by a comprehensive cycle and pedestrian network that will join-up the currently isolated areas of the town. Design and Public Realm The quality of the built form and open space within Bletchley is generally poor, in terms of both design and function. The introduction of significant highway and railway infrastructure has given rise to a large proportion of meaningless and unused ‘left over’ space. The key landmark buildings such as Stephenson House, the Brunel Centre and the Leisure Centre were developed out of context with the town’s form and scale, and have therefore failed to contribute positively to the town’s environment. In terms of urban design, the challenge is still for Bletchley to become a more coherent, user-friendly and stimulating town centre. This should entail a new identity, including not only buildings but new uses and public spaces which are well connected to other parts of the central area, such as the rail and bus stations and the retail core. Key urban design principles promoted in the Framework aim to create new streets fronted with buildings, moving away from the ‘by pass’ character of roads in the town centre. The priority is to improve the visual legibility, physical permeability and safety for pedestrians in the town, particularly for pedestrians moving east – west along Queensway and for those moving along Saxon Street and Princes Way. Each of these thoroughfares will be transformed into streets fronted by buildings and pavements. New buildings will need to be of good quality, with key public buildings and facilities leading the way to raising the overall quality and expectations for Central Bletchley. New and improved areas of public realm identified within the Regeneration Framework include gateways into the town, especially focusing upon the areas surrounding the railway station and Stephenson House, continuing along Queensway and to the old market site (Elizabeth Square) and Leon Park. Additionally, the Framework highlights the importance of the realignment of Saxon Street to become an urban ‘boulevard’, providing a key opportunity to deliver safe and attractive pedestrian and cycle links to facilities on Watling Street, existing and future residential communities and Denbigh North. An important function of this street will be as the primary walking and public transport route to the Stadium MK. Image, Role and Marketing Bletchley has a longstanding character and sense of place. However, the many positive elements of this have been eroded over time by inappropriate development, coupled with a lack of co-ordinated investment that jars with the established and evolved urban form of the town. Central Bletchley is now dominated by negative elements, such as poor quality public realm. Current building form, public realm and materials have little positive impact in reinforcing a distinct and memorable Bletchley identity or image. In order for Bletchley to become an attractive place in which people will want to choose to live, work and raise a family, the town will need to strengthen its identity, building on the positive aspects of its past that are relevant to today and the future, with an emphasis on its pioneering history as the birthplace of computing and the information age. The Regeneration Framework proposes key catalytic projects that will deliver new and upgraded retail floorspace, state of the art leisure and recreation facilities, a new L:\Committee\2004-05\CABINET\20 JULY 2004\20-07-04_ITEM08_ANNEXA.doc railway station and prioritises the need to bring forward Bletchley Park. However, delivering the projects alone will not necessarily improve the town’s image or identity. These physical changes need to be reinforced with a strong and co-ordinated approach to changing perceptions and aspirations for the town; to reinforce the distinctive identity and potential of Bletchley within the wider Milton Keynes area. A fundamental aspect in the successful marketing and promotion of Central Bletchley is identified as the role of local people and their views in the future of the town. The Framework recommends regular and co-ordinated programmes of public engagement throughout the delivery process. It is acknowledged that without the support of local people and businesses, the Regeneration Framework will not succeed. Key Project Areas These development projects fall into five project areas that sit at the heart of the Regeneration Framework: 1. Eastern Gateway The Eastern Gateway is the entrance to central Bletchley from Fenny Stratford and Watling Street and the A5 (south). Here, together with improvements to the quality of the streets and landscaping there is a focus on recreation, leisure and creating a new mixed-use living quarter in the town centre. Projects include: 1. Healthy Living and Recreation Focus – a new leisure centre with associated community, health and commercial (retail, bar/café) use; 2. Elizabeth Square – completion of the transformation of the old market site to create a lively new square; 3. Town Centre Living - a high quality mixed residential development on the existing leisure centre site; 4. Leon Park - landscape improvements to the current recreation ground; and 5. MK Council Offices Facilities - opportunities for the possible development of offices for some Milton Keynes Council office-based staff. There are two major projects that also act as catalytic regeneration drivers in the Eastern Gateway area. The first is a replacement leisure centre. The Leisure Strategy, recently adopted by the Council, identifies the poor condition of the existing leisure centre, which serves the southern part of Milton Keynes, together with the need for improved provision in the future. The Regeneration Framework includes proposals for a new centre in the heart of the town supported by receipts from residential development on part of the existing centre site. The project might also be an opportunity for a PPP project with the existing or other leisure provider. The scope and funding of the new centre project will require detailed testing. The second project is the possibility of a Council facility. This is identified as an Eastern Gateway project due to the potential of this being co-located at the Knowles School site. However, there is also potential to bring forward the new facility in other locations which would support the regeneration of Central Bletchley including close to the station or at Bletchley Park. This will require further feasibility testing as part of the Council’s accommodation review. L:\Committee\2004-05\CABINET\20 JULY 2004\20-07-04_ITEM08_ANNEXA.doc 2. Queensway Central In the heart of the town centre the quality of Queensway and its buildings