Tuesday 22 March 2011

Places Matter! in partnership with the Urban Design Group hosted a series of one day workshops for people from local authorities, public and private sector and relevant interest groups seeking to explore the core elements of urban design and its application in a variety of settings. 

The second event in the series was based in Bowness in a venue overlooking the lake.  With over 20 delegates drawn primarily from across Cumbria with representatives from the Yorkshire National Park the group included planners, architects, an accountant and an economist.

Robert Huxford from the Urban Design Group began with a presentation on the evolution and principles of urban design followed by Graham Marshall of MAXIM Urban Design sharing his experience of practical application of the principles to a specific place.  Graham stressed the role of creative thinking and alignment of different parties to help drive a project forward.

The site visit for the event took in the waterfront, an area of woodland, a large green area overlooking the lake given over to pitch and putt, the boat storage and maintenance yards (full of boats as it was early in the season), a chapel and graveyard, and the main route back into the centre of town past coachparks and areas of public space.  On a fine Spring day the area was busy with people enjoying the views.  Development along the lakeside was surprisingly basic for such a prominent site and did little to enhance the setting of an area that aspires to be a World Class Tourist Destination with broken benches and a multiplicity of municipal street fittings.  Whilst the water was busy with moored boats it was clear that the promenade was an area primarily used by visitors with locals elsewhere.

Following lunch delegates broke into four groups and were asked to come up with a response to the site intended to inform a potential future development brief.

Group 1 – nature, partly colonised, ‘honky-tonk’, limited views, boundaries unclear. The group came up with a proposal to go back to the natural landscape and move the leisure and retail experience into pods situated on and in the Lake itself.  This would leave the shoreline free for boats and a new ferry service would meant that the area was primarily accessed via water – creating a new tourist attraction in its own right.  A car free landscape – seen as too radical a solution for the present day but a future vision of sustainability.

Group 2 – spent time trying to define coherent areas over the site, the differential between the bay and the lakeside area and discussing what is flexible about the site and what isn’t – the car park adjacent to the green area, extent of the pitch and putt site etc.  The area was under varied ownership and management and included different seasonal uses, was the graveyard and extension of the green pitch and putt area?  What are the non-negotiables on the site?  Their future proposal sought to enhance the functionality of the area.

Group 3 – focused on the existing boat houses, public access to the area and connectivity to views.  Is the lake primarily for boat users?  Recognised there were different users of the lake some who liked to be on it, some who liked to look at it, many who earnt their living from it in various ways.

Group 4 – existing waterside development presently restricts access down to the lake.  Discussed extending the green space to meet the waters edge.  This group proposed to tidy up and enhance the existing environment and mitigate the plethora of existing piecemeal development.  They also suggested moving the Steamboat Museum from its current location (elsewhere) to the lakeside site freeing up land in the process and offering a steamboat experience as part of the package.  In addition they considered developing an ecology centre to chime with the Beatrix Potter connection, enhance walkways, promontory and views, and build on the history and location of the site.

The day ended with a general discussion.  Points raised included:

• The current hiatus in the development sector could be viewed as timely in order to review recent projects
• What would happen to the Lake District as an area if the Development Sector picked up again?
• Discussion of the differing roles of Urban Designers and Planners – the planners in the room felt that they were operating to much tighter constraints
• Questions regarding the evidence base for Urban Design – in some cases it may contradict with existing planning policy