North Northamptonshire Urban Structure Study - Summary

North Northamptonshire Urban Structure Study - Summary 1 Introduction the towns to function better both in a network with each understand the role of the urban structure in promoting or other, and to support their immediate local populace. inhibiting movement. 1.0 North Northamptonshire comprises 12 towns of varying sizes which are the subject of this study. This network of 1.6 The Urban structure Study (USS) examines the scope for settlements, alongside the 100+ villages in the countryside greater sustainable movement through the towns. The around them, provides services and facilities to serve the way our communities are designed and laid out has a population of over 300,000 people in North dramatic effect on our travel, and our travel affects our Northamptonshire. climate. The reason is simple: Transportation generates about a third of Northamptonshire’s carbon dioxide (CO2) 1.1 Aim of the Study emissions, mostly through exhaust emissions from cars and 1 A number of previous studies to inform the Core Strategy trucks . Reducing the need to travel by car in the existing have focused on the town centres, and on locations for and new areas, putting shops and services in the most growth. This study seeks to understand the urban accessible places, and making the streets, squares and structure of the towns in North Northamptonshire– the open spaces pleasant, safe and direct so that walking, framework of existing streets and open spaces, and how cycling and public transport are an automatic choice would they function and to use this to inform policy development stem from well planned places. for the revised Core Spatial Strategy. Well connected cities, towns and neighbourhoods can: 1.2 English Partnership’s; Urban Design Compendium - enhance land values describes the urban structure as: - make local shops and facilities more viable - enhance people's safety and security by encouraging “the elements which make up a place – blocks, streets, buildings, open space and landscape – and how they fit together. It applies surveillance equally to all places - to the centre and the suburb and everything - encourage more walking and cycling, leading to health benefits in-between and to the city, town and the village. - reduce vehicle emissions through fewer cars being used for local and non-work trips.2 Urban structure is important because it provides the foundations for the detailed design of individual developments enabling: 1.7 Changes to the urban structure, where the existing Integration with surrounding area framework of the town is less connected and successful, Individual elements to function efficiently together are likely to be difficult to achieve, particularly given the Environmental harmony current financial climate. However, the USS does not A sense of place Commercial viability 1.4 The correlation between spatial framework, connectivity propose a timescale for the changes, indeed some of them and land use in successful places had already been are so fundamental they would be hard to achieve even observed, but this study has sought to provide evidence, within the timeframe of the revised Core Strategy. 1.3 Connectivity and vibrant settlements are part of the existing and put forward spatial recommendations to improve the Nonetheless, they help to set out a vision and steps Vision set out in the adopted Joint Core Strategy (CSS). This quality and success of the towns. towards improving the quality of the towns and for their theme also emerged strongly in the place shaping workshops people. undertaken to inform the review of the CSS. A key theme in 1.5 Movement, land use and character are woven together in 1 the place shaping workshops was the special mixed urban and Northamptonshire Climate Change Strategy 2010-2014 each settlement. And therefore to achieve thriving towns 2 The Value of Urban Design”, Ministry for the Environment, New Zealand – rural character of North Northamptonshire, linking the towns that are economically and socially sustainable, we need to which synthesises international research on connectivity and other key urban to their greatest asset – the wider landscape, but also allowing design aspirations. 2 1.9 Scope Fig I1: Rothwell High Street 1.8 Therefore to summarise the key aims of the study are: The 12 towns studied were: Identify key barriers to connectivity within the towns and Oundle, Corby, Thrapston, Kettering, Desborough, Rothwell, put forward ways to resolve them to improve the towns’ Burton Latimer, Raunds, Higham Ferrers, Rushden, economic, social and environmental performance Irthlingborough and Wellingborough. Explore how the towns can better be connected with their rural areas to capitalise on the special urban and A variety of methods were used to analyse the towns’ urban rural mixed character structure, in particular, the network of streets and open spaces, Understand how the public spaces create the special the location of different land uses, the morphology of the towns character of the town and use that to inform the design of and the character of the public spaces. future public space. 1.10 Structure of the Study Chapter One – Vision for successful towns This chapter summarises the key themes emerging from the work across all settlements into key attributes which we are seeking to safeguard, or create, in all the towns. It then looks at the ways that the attributes can be realised through strategic planning and development principles. Chapter Two – Spatial Principles by Place This chapter summarises the key opportunities and constraints of each town. Chapter 3 – Development Principles This section assesses potential development locations in each settlement and how well they integrate into the existing urban fabric.. Development principles for allocated sites within these locations are identified alongside principles for potential strategic sites taht are being assessed as part of the development of the Core Strategy.. A second background document provides the background evidence on each town which is synthesised here. 3 Chapter One – Vision for Successful towns 2.0 The existing Core Spatial Strategy and subsequent area 2.2 To enable this vision to be realised, a number of attributes action plans identified issues with the economic for the towns need to be established which relate to performance of the towns, wider ambitions for modal shift movement and place. and tackling climate change and opportunities for Well connected places – to the centre, regeneration. A key theme emerging from the Place Shaping workshops which have informed the development through the suburban periphery and to the of the revised core strategy was connectivity. Better countryside edge connectivity to the town centres would support their economic performance, better connectivity through the towns’ suburban areas would support more travel by foot, Mixing up land uses bike or public transport and better connectivity to the wider rural landscape would reinforce the urban and rural Fig 1.1 Kettering town centre – character that is considered so unique to North Streets for All – designed to be safe, Northamptonshire. pleasant, lively and character full 2.1 Understanding the towns’ framework of public spaces is critically linked both to their capacity for improving What these attributes mean is explored in detail in the connectivity and to their sense of place. In assessing the following pages and summarised into “Urban Structure towns, a vision for how we want the towns to be has been Principles” which are applicable across the towns, and developed, to help steer where opportunities to improve indeed in smaller settlements. the towns lie: North Northamptonshire’s towns will be vibrant Figure 1.2 Greenway. places where it is easy and pleasant to get around, where people can access what they need or where they work easily, where people choose to walk, cycle or take the bus rather than to drive and where each town retains its local distinctiveness and has a strong, positive sense of place. Figure 1.3 Street designed for vehicle movement, but little sense of place or character. 4 1. Well connected places – from centre to edge 2.7 Principles: 1)The radials are key both for cross town connectivity and as the Improve access to the centre basic skeleton of the town. They should be the priority for 2.4 Easy, pleasant access from the outlying parts of the town, investment and improvement by: to their centres to access shops, services and public 2) Improvements along the radials for people.The radials have transport facilities there is key. The research has shown had too great a focus on movement for traffic, and their role as that the primary streets, with the most direct access to the streets for walking and cycling needs to be brought to the fore. centre tend to be the oldest radial routes. The radials can Reduction of speeds on radials to 30mph would improve safety be thought of as spokes emanating from the hub, or town for pedestrians and cyclists. Pedestrian and cycle movement centre, with built form and open spaces infilling these needs to be facilitated with removal of barriers, provision of spokes to create a “deformed wheel” so that the towns Figure 1.4 Space Syntax plan of London showing the most connected more footpaths alongside, and more opportunities to cross the show a similar pattern of spatial arrangement across the streets radiating from a central hub, with a grid between the "spokes". streets. study area, in line with Professor Bill Hillier of UCL’s theory of Space Syntax. 3) Link the wider network of streets to the radials in the most direct and legible way possible so that they benefit from access 2.5 Streets which easily connect to to the radials in a direct to the most connected streets. and legible way, support easy access to the town centre, whereas streets which have convoluted relationships with 4) Activity - Intensify land use to allow built form to line the the radials are thereby much less well connected.

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