Sutton Coldfield Public Realm Review

October 2017 Contents

General Considerations 3 Local Centre Projects by Area 25 Sutton Coldfield Public Realm Review 4 Sutton (Parade) 26 General Maintenance, Consistency, and Presentation 5 Sutton (Upper) 27 Establishing the Sutton Palette 6 Sutton (Lower) 28 Local Centre Projects by Theme 7 Boldmere 29 Public Realm – Painting 8 Little Boldmere 30 Public Realm – Consistency & Quality 10 Wylde Green 27 Public Realm – Low Intervention Design 14 Beeches Walk 31 Green Spaces, Trees, & Planting 17 Walmley 32 Deep Clean Regime 22 Mere Green 33 Welcome & Wayfinding Signage 22 New Oscott 34 General Considerations Sutton Coldfield Public Realm Review

Clockwork City was commissioned by Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council (RSCTC) to review the public realm quality of Sutton Coldfield, Beeches Walk, Boldmere, Little Boldmere, Mere Green, New Oscott, Walmley, and Wylde Green. Site visits were undertaken throughout September 2017. The results highlighted areas of support in each local centre, as well as generally across the area, that would benefit from immediate intervention. Further work is being undertaken to review the role and responsibilities of Birmingham City Council across the issues addressed in this report, and beyond.

This Overview document is designed to provide early recommendations towards the Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council’s (RSCTC) public realm review. Its purpose is to provide early guidance to further enhance Sutton Coldfield’s local centre network. This Overview is being presented prior to feedback from Birmingham City Council regarding service delivery levels on issues such as parking enforcement and street cleaning, and therefore should be digested with this in mind.

The recommendations in this Overview are for testing and further co-development with RSCTC Councillors and colleagues General Maintenance, Consistency, and Presentation

The premise of this report is developed around the core idea that a ‘clean, green, and accessible’ place is one that people will want to return to, residents will appreciate, and where businesses will continue to trade and grow. To that end, the general maintenance of the Town is paramount to give a positive impression to residents, businesses, and investors. This impression is also communicated by small details that when done poorly will certainly be noticed.

RSCTC should monitor, and add value to, general maintenance of the Town where appropriate, to ensure the best public image of Sutton Coldfield is given to residents, visitors, and businesses. This is seen across the Town in:

• Guard rails that are poorly painted and/or chipped, as well as different colours; • Street planters that are not consistent shapes and sizes, nor consistently planted; • Floral boxes on railings look great, but often these point towards the road-side and not the pavement-side of the barrier; • The poor state of some road surfaces in an area where car use is high; • Mismatched paving blocks, and use of tarmac patching for service works that seems to have been accepted rather than reinstated; • Unusual street furniture on pavements, such as miniature concrete bollards, and items of potential unnecessary street furniture and signage that could be removed / consolidated, creating more space for people. • General de-cluttering, lighting, and general transformation of under utilised space for people. Establishing the ‘Sutton Palette’

In order to support decision-making in order to develop positive, lasting impressions of Royal Sutton Coldfield, RSCTC should develop a ‘Sutton Palette’ to guide public realm maintenance and design in relation to ‘simple’ issues. The Palette would cover: • The styles to be used for street bins, benches, lamp columns, and other street furniture across the local centre network; • The longer-term development ambitions of RSCTC regarding public realm quality and finish for other public and private work programmes, as well as future high-profile projects that may be considered; • Planting schemes and maintenance regimes for gardens, trees, and floral planters and features; • Festive and general after-dark lighting schemes for the local centre network and linked walking and road routes; • The placement of street furniture within each local centre, relative to the width of pavements, parking spaces, street trees and so on.

This process will streamline decisions about the basic appearance of the public realm. By establishing the ‘Sutton Palette’ and following this in discussions with private and public stakeholders, RSCTC will have a clear position on items that impact the visual identity of each local centre. This identity builds and maintains perceptions amongst local centre users and residents; a ‘clean and green’ local centre gives the impression of a cared- for place.

Developing the Palette should not however be a barrier to delivering quick win improvements and progress on wider regeneration or governance ambitions. Local Centre Projects by Theme Public Realm - Painting

Project: Across Sutton Coldfield’s local centre network, there is a wide range of street furniture that would benefit from re-painting. These items include: • Pedestrian guard and hand rails (seven of ten areas reviewed had extensive sections of guard railing, and Sutton Coldfield’s hand rails leading down to the bus interchange were in very poor condition) • Light and sign columns (17 in Sutton Parade) • Metal bollards (mainly fine across area) • Benches (31 across reviewed areas) Issue The presence of chipped paint, poorly maintained, or mismatched street furniture across Sutton Coldfield’s local centres, as well as the roads Addressed: leading to them, does not give the Town a strong visual identity or the perception of being ‘cared for’.

This project would undertake an extensive (re)painting of current street furniture in line with the Sutton Coldfield Palette described above. This would take time to deliver due to the labour hours required, but the result would be a strong, uniform appearance across local centres, and a clear project by RSCTC to maintain local pride in place.

Required to 1. RSCTC requires permission from Birmingham City Council (and other Highway partners where appropriate) to undertake this painting project. Deliver: An understanding of when street furniture would be painted as part of BCC’s maintenance schedule is also required. 2. RSCTC should choose an appropriate paint colour. This could be Town-wide, or take a different colour for each local centre. The former option would likely be cheaper as paint could be purchased in bulk. 3. It is likely BCC will require an agreed contractor to deliver this work – RSCTC should lead the contract purchase and delivery process, and ensure value for money is maintained for RSCTC, avoiding unnecessary fees where possible. 4. BCC should agree to use the chosen colour in whenever new or replacement street furniture is installed in Sutton Coldfield.

Costs: Depending on the breadth of painting to be undertaken (ie, which elements of street furniture are to be addressed), a budget of £20,000 - £40,000 should be considered. Future budgets should take into account the costs of restoring paint work across the Town every two to three years, and retain a low maintenance budget each year for ad hoc painting and repairs. Sutton Painting street furniture can make or break an area, giving it a sense of personality and entrance, rather than a purely functional environment. Public Realm - Consistency & Quality

Project: This project will deliver a consistent style of street furniture to be used for street bins, benches, bollards, and wayfinding fingerposts across the local centre network. This can be delivered initially very quickly (replacing street bins with a common shape, for example), and in the longer term will allow RSCTC to influence common street furniture across the local centre network. Quick wins include: • Reviewing, relocating, and adding new street furniture on pavements and pedestrian areas; • Repairing dented or deformed street furniture; • Reviewing (and replacing where necessary) the type of street furniture used (bollard type, bin shape etc)

Issue The local centre network is very car-friendly, but the pedestrian environment ranges from excellent in some locations to poor in others. To Addressed: encourage users to take pride in a local centre and fully explore and spend time in that space, a high-quality public realm experience is required. Wayfinding signage is an important part of any walking and local centre movement strategy. Required to Bins: In six of ten local centres visited, there were at least two public bin shapes visible. A single bin shape should be chosen and rolled out across Deliver: the area. This would mean replacing circa ten bins if the most common existing style was retained. £4,000 - £8,000.

Fingerposts: There are fingerposts in Sutton Coldfield and Beeches Walk. At least three posts need to be relocated onto the main pedestrian route (Station Street, Beeches Walk, ‘lower’ Parade). To encourage walking, additional fingerposts with ‘walking time’ directions could be added in Boldmere, Little Boldmere, and at the exit of Four Oaks train station, and existing fingerpost directions could be refreshed in a similar manner. Changing the colour of these would help with general visibility too. Circa £2,500 - £5,000 per fingerpost.

Benches: The greatest number are located in Sutton Coldfield and Walmley, with smaller numbers in Beeches Walk, Boldmere and Wylde Green. As mentioned previously, all benches would benefit from being painted. Benches in Sutton Coldfield on the ‘upper’ Parade are in generally unappealing positions (backs to gardens, looking at shopfronts, close to street traders). Future schemes involving the planted areas should consider integrating seating into these and relocating the benches.

Brickwork and Rails: Tree bases in Wylde Green were broken and should be repaired.

Support from BCC is required to allow RSCTC to relocate street furniture that is in an unsuitable position for its purpose, and add new material to support the wider goals of creating an appealing, walking local centre environment. Likewise, BCC could adopt Sutton Coldfield’s style guidance when adding new or replacing street furniture within the Town, or at the least RSCTC should be an active partner in discussions about this. New Oscott Consistency is required when using planting boxes in public areas, and the quality and colour of street railings. Wylde Consistency and maintenance is an issue in Wylde Green. As per the images below, street planting is mismatched both in terms of plants and containers, roots are destroying brickwork and would be better served with grilles or arboresin bases, and street furniture Green placement is questionable (the bin in the middle of the pavement). All of this is simple to rectify and improves the perception of an area. Sutton Consistency of partner activity is also crucial when engaging with stakeholders such as Birmingham City Council. The image on the left is a BCC car park, and the cleanliness and state of signage is not unique to this one site. Parking enforcement could also be considered an (Lower) issue. Public Realm - Low Intervention Design

Project: To create new, open public spaces without heavy investment of capital, time, or detrimental impact on future maintenance budgets. Larger projects could be considered for the currently underused ‘garden’ areas within Sutton Coldfield’s ‘upper’ Parade, but this project may require considerable investment. Instead, small projects at Beeches Walk and Walmley should be considered.

Beeches Walk could be transformed by developing the grassed triangle between Beeches Walk, Birmingham Road, and Jockey Road. This is currently an underused green space with paths and benches, but has tremendous potential as a mini public square. Swapping grass for paving (costly), AstroTurf (to maintain the green feel at lower maintenance) or even painted concrete (rugged), with suitable bollards to protect from the two main roads, would enable more space for people, benches, public art, and uplighting of the trees for evening impact. A similar ‘painted concrete’ approach could be taken to Station Street, making a welcoming impact as visitors arrive from the train station.

Walmley War Memorial is Grade II listed and dates from 1920. It’s current site, since 2003, is lost behind the small public seating area off Crawford Road. Both areas should be combined to create a suitable environment for the memorial. A lighting scheme after dark would draw attention to the memorial, benches and guard railing in the area should be at least painted, and paving should be cleaned. The small grassed area between the two sites could be paved, creating a ‘new’ larger public space. If budget allows, a refreshed paving scheme for the ‘War Memorial Square’ could be considered, as the current design appears dated. Issue The Walmley project would celebrate Sutton Coldfield’s heritage while upgrading an already acceptable, and used, public space. The Station Street Addressed: project would create a clear walking route for visitors towards Parade.

The Beeches Walk project would create a new public space that is likely to be used by two groups – the first during the day and drawn from Sutton Girls and Plantsbrook students, and the second could be in the evening, when restaurants could be encouraged to add outside seating. Opportunities for pop-up or mobile retail could also fit this space. The project would demonstrate how a low-budget intervention can change the personality and use of a space in Sutton, and develop a highly visual and striking talking point for Councillors to celebrate. Required to 1. The support of BCC is essential for this work, as it is assumed that the land is maintained by them at this time. Deliver: 2. Engagement with businesses and civic groups around both areas should begin and contribute towards a co-developed design for the squares. RSCTC should internally agree suitable directions for these areas too. 3. Depending on the type of intervention chosen (ie, paving type, tree lighting, issues with utility access etc), budget costs could range from £10,000 - £50,000. Crawford Road Square – a good space at the heart of Walmley, that simply needs a deep clean, some paint on the railings and varnish on the Walmley benches. Lighting of trees and/or the memorial after dark would add impact to this space, and connecting the two ‘squares’ to create Memorial Square in Walmley would be an attractive public realm project. Green Spaces, Trees, & Planting

Project: • Protection of tree bases and lower trunks through installation of either tree grilles or arboresin bases. Alongside this, greater management of existing street trees is required, specifically regarding removal of new growth on lower trunks. • Appropriate planting and maintenance of ‘verge’ spaces, such as those around Mere Green traffic island, and the grassed areas within Walmley local centre. Appropriate planting at traffic island sites also required, to ensure lines of sight and attractive appearance. • Continued support for floral features and work to build on Britain in Bloom entries.

Issue Addressed This cluster of projects all focus on making the Town a cleaner, greener environment where people take pride in their area.

Trees: Some street trees within the local centres visited already have tree grilles, or are planted within raised brick beds (Wylde Green). Most other developing trees (Beeches Walk) are unprotected, so working alongside BCC Tree Protection Officers to identify suitable trees to grille or add resin bases would improve the public realm appearance of street trees. Maintenance on the lower trunks to remove sucker growth could also be agreed and undertaken.

Verges: Several grass verges are unkept and appear worn out. Removing these would end future maintenance issues here, although replacing them with planters or grille-protected saplings may be more appropriate.

Required to Deliver: BCC Highways and Tree Officer permission will be required. Where civil works are needed, BCC should advise on what, if any, utility and services considerations are nearby and therefore what action is required. Tree planting and protection would cost £1,000- £3,000 per tree, depending on protection treatment and impact of civil works. There is likely to be an ongoing maintenance budget requirement for newly planted trees.

Grass verges in Walmley should be removed and replaced with paving or other suitable material to widen the pavement space. If undertaken with the improvements to Crawford Road Square, this project should not create negative publicity or result in loss of green space. Sutton These three spaces sit between the bus mall and the pedestrian Parade. One is well maintained, the others are either bare land or look (Parade) poorly maintained, giving a poor impression of the local centre. They also block lines of site across the Parade. Benches are sat in unappealing locations. Sutton (Parade) Simpler interventions include consistency in approach to public realm work. These two trees are at either end of Parade. Mere Planting regularly obscures views. As well as Astor House, the traffic island and planting to the sides does not encourage lines of sight, Green discouraging people to explore or businesses to invest. Appropriate planting, with electrical points for seasonal decorations, should be considered. Walmley Poorly maintained grass verges at the junction of Walmley Road and Wylde Green Road. This serves no real purpose, and with car parking at a premium, these spaces could be adopted as Highway, with angled car parking bays as per Walmley Close to maximise volume. Deep Clean Regime

Project: Bi-annual deep cleaning of paved areas across Sutton Coldfield local centre network.

Issue Addressed: Spillages, chewing gum, and general wear have taken their toll on paved areas such as pedestrian spaces, high-use pavements, and public squares. The Crawford Road square in Walmley is one such example. By investing in an annual or biannual deep clean of Sutton Coldfield’s high footfall and high value areas, the public realm remains looking well cared for rather than tired and dirty.

Required to Deliver: There are several contractors able to deliver a commercial deep clean service, and one provider has been doing so in Birmingham city centre for some time now. Birmingham City Council should be notified, but a precedent has already been set in this work being undertaken and therefore there should be little to no problem delivering this. Business notifications are usually conducted by the cleaning company in the lead up to scheduled cleans, which take place at night and the early morning. Budget dependent on area covered and frequency of clean. Welcome and Wayfinding Signage

Project: Installation of new welcome signage at gateway locations and regular cleaning of these and existing signage.

Issue Addressed: Welcome signage will contribute towards ‘Proud to be Sutton Coldfield’ activity, and sets the tone for further public realm design. Gateway signs entering the Town create a sense of place for Royal Sutton Coldfield, while bespoke signs for key local centres (Wylde Green, Boldmere etc) will also help define locations.

Required to Deliver: New signs will be added to the Highway, and as such will require Birmingham City Council permission. The cost to develop and install ‘heritage signage’ is circa £2,500. Maintenance of new and existing signs will likely be the sole responsibility of RSCTC, and will therefore be part of an ong oing budget line. Maintenance costs are likely to be low; cleaning of the sign facia, pruning back tree or hedge growth, and weeding around the base of signs will be regular occurrences, while replacing signs may be required in the event of accidents. Mere Consistency of public realm quality should also be reviewed, whether this is RSCTC or BCC. The public realm compares unfavourably with Green the newly developed space (righthand image), further the perception of the local centre being the private space. Disparities in street furniture (second right image) again reinforce this perception. Local Centre Projects by Area Sutton (Parade) • 8 benches, painting needed. Possible relocation. Large volume of guard railings lining Mill Street • 8 bins, all fine and single shape. and Brassington Avenue, as well as lining • 7 light columns, painting needed. Lower Parade at its southern end. These • Fingerpost by Mill Street needs railings are all in a poor state and do not relocating onto main walking route. appear painted. None had floral boxes or • Garden spaces need maintenance, one similar attached to them. is bare. Handrails leading to bus interchange need painting.

• 6 benches, painting needed. • 3 bins, two different styles. • Paving by bus stops needs deep clean. • Fingerpost by McDonalds could be • 4 benches, painting needed. better located nearer bus interchange. • 8 bins, all fine and single shape. • 10 light columns, painting needed. • Fingerpost by Nandos needs relocating onto main walking route. Sutton (Upper)

• Pedestrian crossing on Station Street, or a more ambitious single surface scheme, would make this key station approach more pedestrian friendly. • Churchyard planting is excellent. • Fingerpost is lost at the top of Station Street • 6 bins in area, 2 by bus stops – reposition nearer to station exit, or • 2 fingerpost by Railway Road and traffic replace wall-mounted sign. island – both are in suitable positions. • Second fingerpost on triangle area to south is well-positioned. • Potential for low-cost public realm scheme to draw visitors towards Parade. • Poor gateway experience for pedestrians entering Sutton (Lower) Parade. • Railings could be scaled down with a small, raised • There are 72 low level concrete bollards surface installed as a traffic calming measure. If rails guarding the pavement from kerb side cannot be removed, these need to be painted and parking. These end around Duke Street. repaired. No sign of floral boxes either. • From Duke Street to While Road, there are • Current paving appears to be tarmac – if this is a two different types of bollard, a different temporary fix, the paving should be reinstated asap. concrete model and plastic ones protecting • A ‘welcome’ sign would help establish a sense of the pedestrian crossing. Assigning one style arrival. to area and removing superfluous bollards would improve the local image. • Bollards also stop just before While Road, meaning considerable on-street parking occurs in front of businesses. Stopping this would increase the space available to pedestrians and ‘clean up’ the local image.

• The public realm of Maney Corner is poor. There are 12 concrete bollards in various states of repair that further reduce pedestrian space. A deep clean of this area should be undertaken, and repaved if possible. Boldmere

• Boldmere is a strong local centre, but would still benefit from some attention to its public • There are three benches in Boldmere, which realm. is well served with street café spaces too. • There is a very high level of guard railings in Existing street seating should be painted. patches from Highbridge Road to the • A bench outside the public toilets feels a extensive protection around Jockey Road. little lost, and could be relocated nearer to These should all be painted, and where the other two benches on the western possible used for floral boxes at the pavement. This is not essential however. appropriate time. • There are also ten concrete bollards in the • There are only four bins at present in the area, shaded area – their purpose is unclear given which seems low. Additional bins, or the volume of railings in the area and relocating existing ones nearer the bus stop double-yellow lines. Pending a review of and pub, is advised. why these are present, removing these • There are six bike lock loops by Fir Tree Grove would open up more space for pedestrians. and Gate Lane. These appear in good condition and should be maintained as such. Little Boldmere

• Railings in this area need painting. • There are 13 black metal bollards here. If possible, these could be retained and the railings to the north replaced with similar bollards, or vice versa for consistency.

• There is a heritage sign here and it appears in good condition. Wylde Green

• This area has a high volume of guard rails that require repair and painting. • Near to Little Green Lanes the brick tree pits require

repair. • This area has 32 composite concrete bollards, • There are three bins here, but two different styles, 3 benches, and 3 bins. The benches require and one bin effectively blocks the pavement and painting, but the bins appear to be the same needs relocating (opposite Penns Lane). style. Relocating one nearer the bus stop is recommended. • Paving on the western side of this area would benefit from a deep clean, especially considering the street café function this supports. • An ambitious single surface treatment for either of the parallel side roads could be considered, but is likely to be too expensive given the current budget allocation. • There is a heritage-style welcome sign near Broadfields Road that appears in good conditions. Beeches Walk

• The grass verges here are poorly maintained. • Three trees here could be supplemented with arboresin or tree grilles as they are still relatively young.

• This site is an opportunity to create a new • Across Beeches Walk there are five bins, each public realm space using low-cost, low- the same style. intervention techniques. Either or both of the • A large recycling bin on the grassed triangle is area separated by the pathway could be used. an eye sore and, if this is not used, should be • Replacing grass with AstroTurf or painted relocated elsewhere. concrete, installing uplighters to illuminate • The bench here needs painting. trees, and adding fixed, colourful street furniture would create a new social space for residents and school-age users. Walmley

• The grass verges here are poorly maintained. Removing these should be considered as they

provide little benefit beyond urban drainage. • This site has 9 benches, 2 bins, 1 floral planter. Paving, or adding raised flower beds, should • The benches require painting. be considered, as well as extending the off • The floral planter does not suit the surrounding street parking available to support public realm, and new design should be reviewed businesses. for this area. • The paving requires a deep clean. • A potential public realm project here would remove the grassed area separating the war • The grass and mature trees here are well memorial and seating area, combining both to maintained, but during wet months this is create a new public space. The scheme should be likely to turn into a muddy site. Maintenance subtle and sombre, to reflect the memorial’s spirit should be clearly agreed amongst partners to and its Grade II listed status. ensure this does not happen. The two benches require painting. Large volume of guard railings line Walmley Road, and the junction of Crawford Road. These require painting. Mere Green

• The island planting requires reducing to allow lines of site for • Large volume of guard traffic and pedestrians. railings Mere Green Road. • Existing planting could be replaced These require painting. with low-level planting and a tree Likewise railings on pit to provide power for festive Lichfield Road and Belwell lighting features. Lane require this. • Planted areas around the outside • Paving near Hill Village of island are overgrown and overly Road requires dominant. These should be reinstatement, or at the removed and replaced, either with least deep cleaning. planted areas, or public seating.

• The planting in this area, while appealing and well maintained, needs to be reduced to allow lines of site through to the shops and services. • The paved area would benefit from a deep clean. New Oscott

• There is a very high level of guard railings here. All of this appears unpainted, and some sections nearest the junctions are dented or malformed. • Particular attention should be paid to the pedestrian island on Jockey Road – floral boxes and painted railings would maker this a much better experience. • A heritage sign would provide sense of place, either near the start of Jockey Road, or just south of Windsor Road.

• The public realm here is functional but not appealing. There are two bins and one bench – the latter needs painting, while the former appear the same style. There are ten concrete bollards designed to stop kerb parking, but during visits they were ineffective. This space is ideal for large planters, floral features, and festive lighting features due to the space and relatively low footfall but high passing car numbers. It is a high-visibility site with little pedestrian use. Thank you.

For further information, please contact: Chris Hurst Clockwork City [email protected]