Bath Western Riverside Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)

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Part 2 Spatial Masterplan1. River FocusThe river is the principal asset of this site and must be fullyaddressed by development on both banks.The site offers the opportunity to create significant public realmon the southern bank of the River Avon through the site; inparticular the opportunity to create a new river park along themajority of the Avon frontage.2. Public RealmAt the heart of the redevelopment is the requirement to createthe highest quality public realm experiences that form asequence of experiences. These will not only be the majorspaces – identified as activity zones on the summary diagramincluding the River Park, Victoria Bridge Cascade, Midland/Windsor Bridge Road junction with river, Green Park Station(front and rear), and the community space but also high qualityintimate incidental spaces mirroring this tradition throughoutthe city.3. Rapid Transit SystemThe RTS will form an east-west link from the city centre toNewbridge Park and Ride. This is a central feature of theaccess strategy for this site and it supports sustainable travelfor the city. It will reduce reliance on the private car and help toensure modal shift. In design terms it needs an efficientalignment from east to west that integrates well within thedevelopment which it will serve.4. UsesThe whole site is viewed as a mixed use quarter; however,there will be dominant uses amongst the mix. To the westernend residential and community uses will dominate. To the eastof Victoria Bridge Road this forms the eastern city extensionwith the full range of uses including retail, leisure, civic, cultural,commercial and residential. These uses relate to the conceptof character areas which is supported by the spatialmasterplan and the design codes.5. LinksThe main new link created by the redevelopment is the RTS,(see 3 above). The other key links across the site are the twostrong north-south green pedestrian links connecting this siteto the surrounding communities. Other desire lines areincluded within the spatial masterplan, recognising wellestablished routes that have developed over time.6. Heritage EnhancementThe key heritage enhancement is the opportunity to add to thequality of the World Heritage site, not only in physical termsbut also in the management of the existing asset. Theredevelopment will secure the future for Victoria Bridge, andcreate a proper setting for it which is currently lacking. It willcreate opportunities to enhance the conservation area andlisted buildings, in particular Green Park Station. Other notablebuildings unlisted but worthy of retention are included in thespatial masterplan, notably Bath Press.7. Landmark OpportunitiesIn recognising the role that the gasholders play in creating alandmark throughout the city it is acknowledged that the sizeof the site and the scale of the redevelopment offers theopportunity for the inclusion of landmarks. The spatialmasterplan includes possible locations for these, however, anylandmark must be fully justified by a detailed examination ofcontext and design rationale. See paras. 2.9.12 to 2.9.14 formore guidance on this issue.8. Townscape OpportunitiesAs well as the opportunity for landmarks there exist theopportunity for significant townscape enhancements buildingon the respected built form elements of the area. These form avaluable tool as townscape navigational aids to bolster thenew urban form and help to tie it back to the contextuallanguage and community associations. These opportunitiesare explored within the spatial masterplan and expressed onPlan 2.8, and are expanded upon in the design codes for eachcharacter area.9. Protecting Key ViewsThe Western Riverside site sits on the valley floor and as aconsequence is exposed to views from all around the city. Theconsideration of the key viewpoints rather than protection of allviewpoints is the best approach. The development mustdemonstrate how key views will be affected by the proposal.Key views are shown on Plan 2.9.10. Scale Height and MassingBath is a city that is founded on the principles of human scaleand proportion, it lacks tall buildings. The appropriate scale forthe development of Western Riverside needs to respond tolocal contextual conditions and respect the established cityscale. The respect for contextual scale will help to protectviews to the wider landscape. Refer to Plan 2.10.2.5 Public RealmIntroduction2.5.1 The public realm in Bath is one of the city’s key assets;it includes both the powerful gestures of the grandarchitectural statements, well known set-pieces andthe intimate and incidental spaces and a range ofspaces between these extremes that create a variedand stimulating sequence of experiences, particularlyfor the pedestrian.2.5.2 The success of BWR will be judged primarily by itsquality of public realm. The public realm is the glue thatholds all the development together. Experience hasshown that successful urban regeneration is often ledby excellent public realm.18 Bath Western Riverside Supplementary Planning Document
Plan 2.4 Public Realm TypologiesBath Western Riverside Supplementary Planning Document 19
Page 1 and 2: Bath Western RiversideSupplementary
Page 3 and 4: Sustainable Development1.1.6 Planni
Page 5 and 6: 1.5.3 Bath Western Riverside is of
Page 7 and 8: ‘Embedded’ SustainabilityBackgr
Page 9 and 10: Transport1.5.44 At Bath Western Riv
Page 11 and 12: Scope of Spatial Masterplan2.1.6 Th
Page 13 and 14: 2.2 Vision Statement for BWR2.2.1 T
Page 15 and 16: North-South Link (Victoria Bridge R
Page 17: 2.4 Spatial Masterplan - Key Organi
Page 21 and 22: Indicatice cross section of Victori
Page 23 and 24: Along the waterfront the variety of
Page 25 and 26: Urban River Quarter2.6.7 Along the
Page 27 and 28: 2.6.10 The Design Criteria for the
Page 29 and 30: Plan 2.6 The City ExtensionIndicati
Page 31 and 32: Commercial area2.7.14 The line and
Page 33 and 34: Plan 2.7 The Western NeighbourhoodI
Page 35 and 36: 2.8 The Block StructurePlan 2.8 Tow
Page 37 and 38: Plan 2.10 Scale, Height and Massing
Page 39 and 40: 2.10 Townscape2.10.1 The contextual
Page 41 and 42: 2.11.3 It is the principal intent,
Page 43 and 44: Destructor Bridge (Midland Road)2.1
Page 45 and 46: 2.15 Heritage enhancement2.15.1 The
Page 47 and 48: 3.1.17 British Waterways also has a
Page 49 and 50: 3.2.7 The Council considers that th

Bath Western Riverside Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)

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