Turning a Town Around

Turning a Town Around
Chelmsford 1996 – 2003
Tony Hall
Adjunct Professor, URP, Griffith University
Emeritus Professor, APU, Chelmsford, UK
Formerly Executive Member for Planning
Chelmsford Borough Council
Essex County Council
“Design Guide for Residential Areas”
1973
• Example of Arcadian
• Arcadia
– Densities up to 8
houses per hectare
• Boulevard
– Densities up to 20
houses per hectare
Criteria for the creation of urban space at
densities over 20 dwellings per hectare
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Enclosing Space by buildings
Pedestrian Scale
Continuity of frontage
Houses brought forward
Shallow plan houses
Good size rear gardens
Cars to rear within curtilage
The Approach
of
Chelmsford
Borough Council
Starting the Change
Bishops Mead
Chancellor Park
Chancellor Park, Chelmsford
New frontage to existing road
Some statistics:
density
back to back distances
front to front distances
typical house footprints
33 d/ha
30m
10m
11m x 6m
9m x 7.5m
The Mature Process
• Investment in Staff
• Long Term Vision
• Working Together
• Published Policy
Design surgery is open for consultation
Published Policy
• a clear physically-based spatial strategy
• strong and clear design principles
• adoption of the revised Essex Design Guide
• briefs for all significant sites
Spatial strategy in Borough Plan:
• sustainability inc. biodiversity
• mixed uses
• major development limited to TODs
• levels of intensity according to accessibility
• levels of intensity spelled out physically
• general design principles in Plan
Different types of
brief
Principles
for
Residential
Areas
In context
Continuous frontage
Hidden parking
Turning corners
Pursuing an Urban Renaissance
Living in the Centre
Chelmer Waterside
Confidence created
Confidence created
Tour
Web page
Tour
Shopping and Leisure
Web page
Tour
New waterfronts - before
New waterfronts - after
Before
After
Before
After
Missing links - before
Missing links - after
Missing links - after
Web page
Tour
Planning
process
Understanding the place
Generating a vision
What citizens want and need
Seizing opportunities
Locating and shaping
Making communities that work
Quality
of the built
environment
Exciting places
Confidence in
design
Working together
Communicating
well
Pride in public
space and
buildings