Fourth Trent crossing
Local plan and the City skyline
Midland Station
Old Market Square
Restoration of Colwick Hall
The pace of development in Nottingham and the surrounding area seems to be speeding up: certainly members of the Committee have been kept extremely busy over the past few months responding to consultations, attending meetings, reading documents, viewing presentations, celebrating launches and all the other activities associated with the many initiatives currently taking place in our part of the world.
One issue, which affects the city ‘from the outside’, so to speak is the debate surrounding the future use and improvement of the A52 corridor and the associated issue of a possible fourth bridge over the River Trent.
Representatives of the Society have attended a number of consultation sessions
on the subject and have undertaken their own practical research - for instance,
John Rhodes and I followed up one consultation session by a trip to Netherfield
to walk around the lagoons and assess the possible environmental impact of
a new road crossing alongside the existing railway bridge. The Civic Society’s
stance on the A52/Fourth Trent Crossing is that clearly stretches of the A52
could helpfully be upgraded, public transport (in particular the rail provision)
needs to be improved and that while we are essentially opposed to creating
more road crossings of the Trent, we feel that a Radcliffe-on-Trent to Netherfield
is the preferable option. We are opposed to any further crossing being created
at Gamston to Colwick: this would not only have a detrimental effect on the
river and its environment on this stretch but would also multiply the number
of bridges at this western end, with no particular benefit to those travelling
to and from the eastern part of the city. We do, however, have concerns regarding
the effect of a new bridge and its construction on the natural habitat of
the Netherfield Lagoons, and area of increasing importance to wildlife, and
in particular to birds on migration: great care will need to be exercised
in order to maintain habitats and also the general sense of peace for both
wildlife and people in this sensitive area.
The riverside is itself on the brink of a new look, now that discussions and
consultations are reaching a culmination so that we may soon hope for the
rescue of the riverside from its industrial past and its regeneration as a
superb setting for people to live and to enjoy leisure time. Not least will
be a new public foot and cycle path opened up from Trent Bridge right up to
Colwick. Let’s hope it all gets going soon.
Members may be aware that the City Council’s Local
Plan is currently undergoing a review. The Society was among the organisations
and individuals making comments or objections to aspects of the revised Plan;
in our case, we wished the sections on high buildings, the city skyline and
the historic core of the city to reflect more strongly the need for new developments,
and in particular high-rise ones, to be subject to more rigorous rules and
guidance from the local Planning Authority. Bob Cullen and I presented our
case and accompanying evidence at the Public Enquiry in November, and made
clear that the effect on the skyline, landmark buildings (e.g. Council House,
Castle, St Mary’s, Green’s Mill) and the city’s central
core should be studied from both nearby and further panoramic viewpoints and
visual corridors. We are thinking of producing a map with accompanying photographs
of viewpoints of landmarks and would appreciate the help of members in identifying
these.
The fate of our views of the city is ever-present in our consideration of
planning applications when the Plans Sub-Committee holds its regular monthly
meeting. Ken Brand, Geoffrey Oldfield, Barbara Ricks and I generally look
at about 20 sets of plans, ranging from new housing developments to the restoration
of factories to the design of new shop fronts. Particularly of concern recently
is the proliferation of ‘infill’ applications with proposals to
build on the green spaces left in the form of large gardens, and also the
‘upward creep’ of the city, and the trend for increasing the height
of existing buildings.
Clearly, conservation is important to the Society, and by that we do not mean
that the city has to be pickled in aspic, or that no new development must
ever take place in a historic context. However, we are very concerned that
the city retain its ‘grain’ and we have recently been pleased
to see that the environs of Sherwood Rise have recently been designated a
Conservation Area. We are currently working with residents and city officers
on the possibility of creating similar areas in the Meadows and Victoria Park
neighbourhoods.
We were very pleased to receive the city’s new Conservation Statement concerning the Midland Station, and have responded positively to this important document, which becomes increasingly essential as the Station becomes more of a transport hub with the arrival of the tram works at Station Street.
Among the most important decisions to be made on behalf of the city in the near future will be the design of the Old Market Square. This subject has been debated a number of times before, and a number of additional features have been added to Cecil Howitt’s original design over the years. However, this time a more radical approach has involved an international design competition, which has attracted 61 competitors, whittled down to six teams who will present their ideas next year. Ken Brand, Bob Cullen and I attended a session at the Council House along with many other ‘stakeholder’ groups to express our hopes and expectations for the Market Square, and there will, of course, be wide public consultation later on in the process. Ken writes on the Old Market Square elsewhere in this Newsletter, and we would of course like to hear your views.
Finally, a celebration of a splendid project: the restoration and rebirth of Colwick Hall. As you know, the Society was lucky enough to hold the Christmas Party there, and I’m sure everyone present was astounded and delighted to see how that previously very sad, derelict building had been brought back to life by the courage and imagination of its new proprietor, Chek Whyte. He and his designer, Tim Jones, are to be applauded for the way in which they have combined the restoration of the fabric and design of the building together with a simple yet stunning up-to-date approach to the furnishing - and with a very eighteenth-century touch of the exotic. A fine start to our riverside’s regeneration.
Hilary Silvester
(January 2004)
On behalf of those attending the Society’s Christmas Party at Colwick Hall I would like to thank Hilary and our Membership Secretary, Lynn Irvine, for all of the hard work that they put in to ensure that the evening was a huge success. Editor.
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