Newark Future
Report of workshops undertaken on
30 November and 1 December 2007
January 2008
CONTENTS
1. Introduction 3
2. Summary of Issues 4
3. Methodology 11
1. Introduction
This report summarises the discussions which took place during two half-day workshop events in Newark on Friday 30 November and Saturday 1 December 2007.
The workshops were intended as an opportunity for members of the Newark Future project team to discuss in depth issues related to the proposed expansion of Newark with interested members of the local community.
The focussed discussions that took place during the workshops have helped the project team to further understand matters of importance to local residents. They have also identified issues that require further exploration and discussion and were an opportunity for the team to respond to queries and explain aspects of the Newark Future proposals in detail.
Those who participated in the workshops were drawn from those who had attended one of the Newark Future exhibitions in October and indicted an interested in attending a workshop on their feedback form. Invitations were also sent to a number of individuals who had indicated – outside of the exhibitions – an interest in being engaged on the proposals in greater detail. The age and socio-demographic profile therefore reflects the profiles of exhibition attendees and is not necessarily representative of the population as a whole.
The project team found the event a very valuable and worthwhile exercise and intends to report back on its responses to the issues raised.
We would like to extend our thanks to all those who took the time to participate.
2. Summary of Issues
2.1 Introduction
At the workshops discussions took place in four topic groups. The topics were:
• Community facilities
• Environment and landscape
• Housing
• Transport
Slightly more people expressed a preference to attend the ‘Environment & Landscape and Transport’ groups than ‘Community Facilities and Housing’. The following sections summarise the main issues raised in each workshop.
2.2 Community Facilities
This topic group looked at the community facilities which would be needed to sustain Newark Future. It included facilities that could be provided on site as well as off-site facilities that might need to be improved or altered. Issues which were discussed most were:
• Health facilities (including primary care, hospital facilities and encouraging healthy living through design). There was a general concern that the NHS locally is under pressure, that Newark Hospital is under-resourced and that many of its services had been moved out of the town. There was general support for primary health provision on site - particularly in view of the lack of provision in Hawtonville. The logic of flexible buildings which could be easily adapted for use as a health centre and combined with other uses was generally accepted and there was support for the co-location of a range of health services, including pharmacy
• Education (notably the importance of ensuring delivery of any promised school and support for nursery education co-located with primary schools). There was general acceptance that the development would need on-site primary provision and some concerns about the quality of secondary school provision in the town. This was said to be improving but maintaining this upward trend would be important for Catesby to make the scheme attractive for new parents coming to live in the town. There was some enthusiasm for co-locating nursery/early years education and primary schools and a suggestion that a Surestart Centre should be located with the health centre.
• Leisure facilities (including indoor leisure, sports pitches and facilities for young people). There was almost universal agreement that Newark’s leisure facilities were in need of upgrading and that Newark Future was an opportunity to ‘put this right’. Priorities were a better swimming pool (some wanted a competition pool) and more sports pitches (though not rugby which is well catered for). Some participants felt it would be better to invest in upgrading existing facilities first rather than creating new ones. Another key point was that the west of Newark was felt to have fewer facilities than the east.
• Specific youth facilities mentioned were a skateboard track, cycle track in the country park and a library/internet access point.
• Shops (the importance of well-designed local shopping centres which served the locality but did not generate large numbers of car trips from outside the area). In general, people did not want to see new shops competing with the town centre.
• Multi-functional community facilities. There was general support for the idea of multi-functional community facilities. A police room in a community centre was mentioned as an example of what was needed (as at Farndon and Hawtonville). Collingham was mentioned as an example of a place where all facilities were located in one place – it has a library, GP’s surgery, pharmacy and dentist.
• Country park: The importance of providing a range of habitats was emphasised (eg fishing, birdwatching, cycling, walking and play). There was concern that the park should be properly managed
• General: There was some discussion of using design to ‘embed’ a healthy lifestyle in the community - for example, by making it easy to walk to work and to the shops and providing facilities and housing that encouraged social interaction – eg village hall and allotments
• The importance of guaranteeing that any community benefits promised were delivered.
A range of other issues were raised in discussion including making the most of the proposed country park, enhancing local emergency services.
2.3 Environment and Landscape
This topic group considered environmental matters including drainage and landscape issues. The topics and issues raised generally fell into two categories: ‘Floodplain’ and ‘Control of Urban Run-off’ from the proposed development. Other issues were also raised and are reported under the banner of general topics.
Floodplain Issues
• Open, permanent, water bodies in a country park were seen as a positive feature. It was self-evident that pleasing aesthetics, trees and public access to the park would be well received.
• Whisbey Nature Reserve near Lincoln was noted as a good example of a country park.
• Long term effective management of water bodies was seen as a concern. The delegates wanted reassurance on the viability of adoption of the country park and/or other Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) by the local authority and also to a lesser extent by private companies. The involvement of local environmental groups was considered a useful move towards the sustainability of open spaces incorporating environmental features.
• The Middle Beck was recognised as being of significant historical importance having been used for transportation in the middle ages and as a siege barrier during the Civil War. It should be noted that there were some very strong objections to any redirection of the Middle Beck.
• It was generally considered a good thing to have lakes and a country park, yet there were concerns about public safety and security.
• The park should contain a blend of defined access corridors, informal zones and ‘no-go’ ecologically sensitive zones.
• Picnic areas and other family friendly facilities were suggested. It was confirmed that play areas should be provided.
• The presence of existing sensitive wildlife areas in the area of the possible country park were identified (eg over-wintering of Merlin). Careful consideration of these is essential in any design/change to the environment for creation of a country park.
• There was a concern that there would be a lack of co-operation on flooding between all the relevant partners.
Control of Urban Run-off
• Design of SuDS systems should make them as natural as possible.
• Delegates promoted the active use of ‘source control’ measures to reduce the impact of rainfall by attenuating the rate of run-off. Such measures include rainfall harvesting, green roofs, grey water re-use, etc. These design features could be used in as many of the proposed houses as possible to comply with the requirements of planning legislation and the move towards increasing the re-use of water. Some concerns were raised as to the long term maintenance of these measures and the opportunities for house owners to remove or modify them reducing their effectiveness.
• Green corridors within the built environment were promoted for aesthetic, environmental and security reasons.
• SuDS systems and any water bodies in the built environment should be attractive and well designed to encourage them to be visited by the public.
• Security and safety was a major factor in the design of water bodies (whether normally wet or dry) and careful attention is required to provide awareness/information to the public of the method of operation of the water areas particularly for the benefit of children.
• Areas where agricultural land might be developed was discussed.
General Topics
• There was a suggestion for sports facilities to be provided on the western side of the development to supplement those elsewhere.
• There is likely to be a considerable period of disruption to the existing environment during the construction process. If the dualling of the A46 is concurrent with the Newark South development, this disruption could be more extreme.
• It was confirmed that there would be no change to Hawton Road, south of the village.
• It was suggested that the developer has to be aware of concurrent developments – such as Potterdyke – and how it would tie in to the Newark Future scheme.
• Many attendees were in favour of a creation of distinct villages rather than a more centrally developed town.
• The group said that the building of carbon neutral homes must be an objective and that, to meet Government targets, all homes should be built as carbon neutral.
2.4 Housing
This topic group explored a wide variety of issues related to the housing aspects of the proposed scheme. These included matters of house type mix, affordability, layout and relationship with existing dwellings. A number of common themes emerged:
• Getting the right mix of housing including affordable housing (and in particular not creating ‘ghettos’), housing suitable for different stages in life (e.g. sheltered housing for the elderly) and mixing in uses (eg locating health centres close to homes).
• The importance of ‘housing for grandchildren’ was mentioned several times – enabling the town’s younger people to afford to stay in Newark.
• The importance of building affordable housing for local people was also stressed.
• Considering very carefully the relationship of new housing to existing housing especially along Grange Road and Riverside Road (there were a variety of views on how the interface should be managed).
• The quality of the new housing was emphasised as an important factor.
• Ensuring that the new community integrated with the existing community and that Newark Future assisted the regeneration of Hawtonville.
• The scale/height of new development was discussed a key point being that the right scale must be found for each part of the site – ie denser in the village centres but less so further out.
• Protecting important views of landmarks.
• Ensuring high quality public realm (everything from low pollution lighting to the quality of pavements and public areas).
• Design should reflect the local character rather than taking an ‘anyplace’ approach.
• Designing in security and safety from the start.
2.5 Transport
The transport group considered traffic and transport in and around Newark, including measures that could be taken to improve accessibility and encourage use of public transport, walking and cycling. Many very detailed points were made but the issues which came up most frequently were:
• There was a very strong feeling that the A46 should be dualled.
• Congestion in the town centre and interest in how the Catesby team might mitigate the effects of the Newark Future project.
• The traffic impact of the ASDA/bus station redevelopment and other developments in the area (e.g. Fernwood Business Park). Attendees were anxious that these should be taken into account in Catesby’s traffic models.
• Additional pressure on the existing road network notably Hawton Road, Bowbridge Road, Beaumont Cross and the A46 roundabout at Farndon. There was a strong feeling that an alternative had to be found.
• There was very significant support for the introduction of a park and ride facility in Newark – with or without the Newark Future development - and there were comments that it works in other towns (Shrewsbury was mentioned as an example). The A616/617 junction was mentioned as a possible location as was the importance of facilities for motorists using the park and ride (eg drink machine). There was also a suggestion that it should be a circular route taking in a number of stops (rather than just a route from the P&R to the centre).
• Improved bus services, especially to the town centre and railway station. There was a request that town centre stops should, as far as possible, be close to key facilities to assist people with mobility problems.
• Questions were asked as to whether the Southern Link Road would be dual-carriageway.
• The need for an improved cycle network including the upgrading of existing facilities, many of which are badly designed or poorly located. The point was made that cycle routes for recreational use do not join up and that some simply stop for no apparent reason. There was a clear view that a good cycle network needed to move much higher up the agenda.
• Delivery of infrastructure a major issue in the light of Fernwood
• The importance to make adequate parking provisions (learning from the lack of spaces in Fernwood).
• A617 may need improvements.
• The importance of good pedestrian links was mentioned regularly throughout the workshops. There was mention of a number of places at which crossing the road was difficult and Catesby was asked to do what it could to facilitate pedestrian routes through its development and, where possible, through the town. It was also asked that care be taken to assist people with mobility problems.
• There was a debate on the merits of locating supermarkets/shops in the town centre or out of town. Catesby would look at the possibility of having a new supermarket on site with other facilities – eg a petrol station.