Love Prestwich Report - 02 Visioning.pdf - Urbed

Par t 2VISIONINGThe baseline work fed into a assessment ofthe health of Prestwich town centre. This wasthen discussed in one of the largest roundtableworkshops that URBED has ever run. This helpedus to develop a vision for Prestwich as an ‘‘urbanvillage within Greater Manchester that, providesa hub for a growing local resident and businesscommunity with a lively high street, and accessto the most extensive areas of open space in theregion’’.17

Diagnosis...Prestwich Village Centre is significantly underperforming comparedto what one would expect given the spending power of its localcommunity. This is partly because of the impact of the Tesco storebut also because of the poor environment caused by traffic on BuryNew Road and the condition of the Longfield Centre. The strategyneeds to address these fundamental weaknesses.The baseline analysis shows thatPrestwich is a relatively prosperoussuburb of Manchester with a retailcentre that is comparable in size toplaces like Chorlton and Didsbury.However, compared to these placesit is doing very poorly, despite theinvestment and improvements thathave taken place in recent years. Thereasons for this underperformance arethreefold.The first is the opening of the Tescostore outside the town centre. Whilethis may not have directly impacted onthe local shops it did lead to the closureof the Sainsbury’s on the site of theRadius Scheme which took away animportant anchor for the centre.The second reason is the level of trafficon Bury New Road. The centre isdominated by traffic, the road is difficultto cross and the pavements are narrow,noisy and polluted. Retailing on thewestern side of the road, away fromthe parking and the Metrolink stop hassuffered particularly.Thirdly, the quality of the LongfieldCentre is very poor. The centre is datedand unattractive and the dog leg in thearcade means that much of it is hiddenfrom passing trade. The access pointsare dark and feel threatening.These three factors have causedthe decline of the centre so that it iscurrently underperforming significantly.This has not been reversed throughthe environmental works implementeda few years ago. Something morefundamental is needed to addressthese deep-seated weaknesses,particularly by improving theenvironment on Bury New Road andredeveloping the Longfield Centre.19

Facing Page: The Roundtableworkshop on 13th March and theconsultation bus at the fun day in11th May 2008 (right)Consultation...On 13th March 2008 a round table workshop was held in theLongfield Suite attracting some 126 people. Subsequent tothis a consultation was held on the options at the PrestwichClough Fun day on 11th May and through a subsequentexhibition in the library. Full details of the consultation areavailable in the consultation report on the project web site.The consultation illustrated the greatloyalty to the village that exists in thelocal community, and the sadness thatit has become so run down. Peopleparticularly valued the independentretailers, the access to open space,the village feel and the facilities suchas the library and Longfield Suite. Thisaffection for Prestwich is reflected inthe slogan ‘Love Prestwich’ which hasbeen widely accepted locally and whichwe have used as the title of this report.Public concerns related to traffic andthe impact of supermarkets on localretailers. There were worries aboutcrime and the way that the area waschanging as more people commutedout of the village to work. There werealso specific concerns about theRadius scheme that was seen as toolarge and which was blamed for someof the crime problems because of thenumber of buy-to-let properties.The visioning session at the workshopsaw Prestwich developing into an urbanvillage like Chorlton, Didsbury, Moseleyin Birmingham or Headingly in Leeds.It was also compared to smaller townslike Ramsbottom, Hebden Bridgeand Knutsford. This fed into a seriesof vision statements, reproduced inthe consultation report that has beenused as the basis for the vision in thissection.The consultation on options uncoveredsome specific issues:There was particular resistance tonew apartments in the centre, as aresult of the Radius scheme.There was a desire to see moreemployment uses so that there weremore people working locally.There was an appetite for radicalchange and a pragmatic view abouthow this should be achieved.Most people were prepared toaccept the development of newretail space, even the expansionof the Tesco store, provided thatit was in character with the villageand would be a catalyst to widerimprovements.21

An Urban VillageThe vision for Prestwich is that it becomes asustainable urban village - like Hampstead inLondon, Moseley in Birmingham or Chorlton inManchester. These are places that once were truevillages and have retained their identity as they havebeen engulfed in the expanding city.Like these other urban villages Prestwich willdevelop a reputation for being a distinctive, ethicaland creative place, where people live and work andwhere the village centre provides a focus for the lifeof the community.23

A Community Hub...Prestwich is an urban villagewithin Greater Manchester thatprovides a hub for the localcommunity, where people canmeet, socialise, access servicesand shop.Moseley Village: The suburb of Moseleyin South Birmingham has travelled thepath that we are suggesting Prestwichshould follow. Originally an affluent areaMoseley was run down in the 1980s. itstarted to call itself Moseley Village in thelate 1980s and the community set up aVillage Trust to promote its regeneration.The focus for this was a annual festivalwhich has developed into a series ofregular events including the farmersmarket (pictured).Luton Health Centre: This showshow new PCTs can be developed aspart of a high street.25

A lively high street...The village will be centredon a lively high street, full ofindependent retailers, wherethe traffic adds to the vitalityof the street scene rather thandominating the environment.We don’t need to go very far to find goodexamples of major arterial roads thathave been brought back to life as highstreets. There are some particularly goodexamples in Manchester:Levenshulme: The A6 through thecentre of Levenshulme carries 26-29,000vehicles a day - the same as Bury NewRoad. It has been designed as a singlecarriareway in both directions with builtout parking bays, wide pavements andstreet trees. The centre has revived inrecent years as a centre for the antiquetrade.Cheetham Hill Road: Even closerto home Cheetham Hill Road hasbeen treated in a similar fashion.The centre is a good deal moreimpoverished than Prestwich but isfar livelier.27

Gateway to parkland...Prestwich will be the gateway to the twomost extensive areas of parkland in theNorth, Heaton Park and the Croal IrwellRegional Park - the Hampstead Heathand Wimbledon Common of the North,which will become Manchester’s urbanplayground.Hampstead Heath: But it could be aview from the Croal Irwell Regional Parklooking back towards Prestwich. Thescale of ambition of the regional park isequivalent to Hapmstead Heath and willtransform perceptions of the area.Barnes Visitor Centre: The park willbecome a centre for active recreationand wildlife. The World WildlifeFund Visitor Centre in Barnes SouthLondon shows how visitor facilitiesmight be developed.‘Go Ape’ : High Wire Adventure Parkat Delamere Forest.29

A place to live...Prestwich will develop its attractionsas a good place to live in a diversecommunity. It will continue to attractpeople who work in central Manchesteras an alternative to places like Chorltonand Didsbury to the south of the city.Ecohomes: The attraction of Prestwichshould be as a place where you canbuy good quality, low energy, affordablehousing overlooking fantastic openspace.BedZED: This could also includenew housing developed to providean attractive sustainable alternativesuch as the Beddington Zero Energyscheme in South London.31

A place to work...Over time Prestwich will attract creative,ethical and knowledge businesses outof Manchester. It will exploit its locationon the motorway and Metrolink and itsattractive environment to become a goodlocation for business.Berlin: Prestwich could seek to promotea business park taking advantageof its location on the motorway.However, a better option is likely to bea strategy to attract small creative andethical companies out of the centre ofManchester with small workshops andlive/work accomotation such as this inBerlin.The Northern Quarter: Manchesterhas seen a significant growth ofcreative industries in areas like theNorthern Quarter.33