Planners' President sees Best of North East Planning

 
Press Notice from the ROYAL TOWN PLANNING INSTITUTE – North East Region

Planners’ President sees Best of North East Planning

The national President of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Janet O’Neill, visited the North East of England on 16-17 October 2008. Highlights of her tour included visits to the winning scheme in the 2008 RTPI North East Regional Award for Planning Achievement The Regeneration of the Cleadon Park Estate, South Shields and to Commended entries Sunniside Gardens, Sunderland, Gateshead Residents’ Urban Design Training and Northumbria University – City Campus East.

During her crowded visit Janet also visited Middlesbrough for a meeting with Tees Valley Living, met with students at Newcastle University, and a group of young planners, and presented the regional awards at an Awards Dinner at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland.

Cleadon Park Regeneration Scheme, South Shields

Cleadon Park was a 1920’s Council estate of 950 family houses, which is now being transformed through a £90 million redevelopment, involving the demolition of 538 houses and the construction of 750 new homes for rent and for sale, plus an integrated health and community centre.

The Cleadon Park Community Partnership involves the NomadE5 Housing Association (part of ISOS), Bellway Homes, South Tyneside Council, and local residents. The project architect Halsall Lloyd Partnership worked with residents on a Design Group. Partnership with local employment and training agencies provided local people with apprenticeships and construction jobs, Groundwork Trust provided landscape jobs, and the Northumbria Police have been closely involved in tackling anti-social behaviour on the estate.
The Awards Scheme judges felt that the scheme demonstrated an exciting approach to neighbourhood renewal, addressing a wide range of issues in a holistic way. There is a way to go before the scheme is complete on the ground, and its ambitions fully realised, but the phases already underway and complete show enormous promise, not least in the imaginative blend of different house and tenure types, within a single overall design.

During her visit to Cleadon Park Janet O’Neill met with residents Joyce Johnson and Denise Graham and heard about the development from Michael Farr, Director of Development at Isos Housing, Neil Turnbull of Bellway Homes, and Gordon Atkinson and Val Brown, South Tyneside Council.

Sunniside Gardens, Sunderland

Sunniside Gardens lies at the heart of a regenerated historic area immediately East of Sunderland City Centre. As the only significant public open space in Sunniside, the Gardens (previously known as The Shrubbery) play a key role in the area, and have been utterly transformed by £2.2 million improvements to the public realm. The project was driven by the Sunniside Partnership, comprising Sunderland City Council, English Partnerships, Sunderland arc (Sunderland’s regeneration company) and One NorthEast, and designed by Robinson Landscape Design.

The imaginative, completed scheme is contemporary in design, but sympathetic to surrounding historic buildings. Several mature trees have been retained to good effect, and there are grass areas, seating, new planting, a sculpture, a performance space, innovative lighting, and a small area of dancing fountains. During her visit to Sunniside the RTPI President was also shown the newly completed arts and business centre thePlace, on a walkabout led by Leader of Sunderland Council Cllr Paul Watson and Ben Hall, Director of the Sunniside Partnership.

Gateshead Residents’ Urban Design Training

To guide investment in the Bridging NewcastleGateshead Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder, Gateshead Council approved Neighbourhood Plans for Teams, Felling, Bensham and Saltwell. Recognising that residents of these areas were facing significant change, but keen to involve them in the future planning of their areas, Gateshead Council decided to establish a Community Reference Group to comment on and help develop designs and proposals.

In order to support the residents who were to take part in this initiative, the Council worked with Planning Aid North to run a series of training workshops for local people, partly based on materials obtained from CABE, and including a bus tour of some of the best examples of urban design in the region. More than 50 people took part in the programme. A subsequent “Real Sites Night” involved developers presenting alternative schemes to the Reference Group, which now comprises 24 informed, dedicated and enthusiastic people.

Brandling residents Marian Clark and Ray Heelbeck described their experiences to Janet O’Neill, accompanied by Craig Ellis, Gateshead Council, and Shaun Hanson, Planning Aid North.

Northumbria University – City Campus East

Northumbria University’s City Campus East makes a powerful architectural statement in support of the University’s ambitions, but is located on the other side of Newcastle’s Central Motorway from the main campus of the university, and the city centre.

In many circumstances this barrier could have proved fatal to the creation of a successful campus, but the potential obstacle has been triumphantly overcome by the construction by the university of an iconic new footbridge across the motorway, and the re-modelling of pre-existing buildings on the western side of the motorway to allow the creation of a strong pedestrian link from the new campus, across the motorway, through the pre-existing buildings, and on to the city centre.

The RTPI President was shown around the Northumbria Campus by Kathryn McDonald, Northumbria University, and Jan Bessell, Dickinson Dees LLP.

Throughout her visit Janet was also accompanied by Steve France, Chair of the RTPI North East of England Region. Janet O’Neill, the RTPI’s 2008 National President, is Director of York-based planning consultants O’Neill Associates.