Hotwells Park Proposal

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Hotwells Lockside Park, development proposal draft 2 Aug. 2010 page 1

SummaryThrough the Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association, people in the neighbourhood are

submitting a proposal for improvements to the open space surrounding the north side of the

Cumberland Basin Flyover. This site, which has experienced 40 years of neglect since the road

scheme was developed in the 1960s, is the largest public open space in Hotwells in an area signifi-

cantly lacking in provision of recreational amenities. The proposal recognises that this space also

has significance beyond the needs of the immediate community. It has a role in the development

of the Floating Harbour and Entrance Locks as an important heritage site. It is part of an increas-

ingly busy hub for cycling and walking and marks an entrance to the City which currently pre-

sents the worst possible impression for the many visitors using the road routes in from The Port-

way and North Somerset.

The proposal presents a strategic framework for progressive improvements and some fundingpossibilities which will create a revitalised and stimulating new park, with benefits for local peo-

ple, the economic development of the area and a more fitting gateway to complement the mag-

nificent approach to the City from the Avon Gorge.

History of the siteThe Cumberland Basin road scheme was de-

veloped in the early 1960s to overcome se-

vere congestion at Ashton Swing Bridge

across the New Cut and the road crossing of

Cumberland Basin via Junction Lock swing

bridge. It had a devastating effect on the

community in Hotwells. Apart from increasedtraffic and the visual degradation of the

neighbourhood, entire streets of houses

were obliterated to make way for the high

level roads and approach ramps. The remain-

ing space beneath the pillars of the road sys-

tem was landscaped to form a piazza de-

signed by Dame Sylvia Crowe to incorporate a

childrens playground, fountain, public toilets

and a caf.

Initially, the only safe access was via a pedestrian

bridge from the bottom of Granby Hill which

proved to be the wrong location for ease of useby the majority of people. Environmental factors

like the effects of lead in petrol on children be-

came apparent in later years. As a result, use

declined and lack of maintenance by the City

Council led to a steady deterioration. By 1980,

the caf and toilets had been closed, the fountain

and pool filled in and planted and the play equip-

ment removed. The land was occupied by trav-

ellers on a number of occasions until large rocks

were placed around the boundary to prevent

vehicles entering the site.

* note: Lockside Park is a provisional name that

may change as the scheme is further refined.

Lockside Park* Development Proposal(2nd draft August 2010)

cumberland Piazza pool and fountain in the 1960s

a recent view of the site


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Current status of the site and structuresThe land is owned by Bristol City Council and comes under the control of the Highways Asset Management

Dept. but is not recognised as public open space in the current Parks Dept. Area Green Space Plan.

Members of the steering group have had discussions with Alison Shackely who put us in contact with Trudy

Feeney who looks after the redundant public toilets.

Most of the area is used for storage for the flyovermaintenance and therefore not accessible. The toilets

and the structure appears to be in good dry condition

and provides a useful area which could be refur-

bished as toilets or used for storage or admin. pur-

poses. The council would not have any concerns

about this building being re used as part of our

scheme.

Members of the steering group met with Steve Craw-

shaw of BCC Air Environment/ pollution Team. The

site is located within an air quality management area

where levels of Nitrogen Dioxide are monitored.

Whilst the levels are high adjacent to the road, they

drop off 20m back from the pavement. There are no

concerns or objections for the site to be used by the community and it is felt to be safe for people to use

the area for leisure activities . Mr Crawshaw explained that the benefits of physical activity outweigh any

dangers from the pollution over a short period of time.

Currently, maintenance work is minimal and seems to be confined to lopping trees and shrubs that ob-

scure sightlines for vehicles using the low-level roads around the site and to remedial work on the flyover

structure itself. Following complaints from the Hotwells Community Links group about litter bins not being

emptied, the bins were removed. Several concrete

and wooden benches still exist and there are a num-

ber of mature and attractive trees which could be

incorporated into a development scheme.

There is a pedestrian underpass crossing beneath

Faraday Road which connects the main section ofthe site to an area used as a car park to the East.

This is very little used; partly because it was super-

seded by a crossing at road level in the 1980s and

partly because it doesnt go anywhere that matches

the routes people tend to take across the site.

A curved section of steel railings that originally en-

closed the play area near the southern boundary of

the site still exists and seems to be in good condi-

tion. All the original play equipment has been re-

moved.

The site is mainly used by pedestrians and cyclists for whom it is a route to somewhere else. There has beenno quantitative survey analysing this usage of which we are aware but it seems likely that frequent users

are:

People crossing Cumberland Basin to and from Southville and Ashton (especially parents and children

attending Hotwells School).

Cyclists commuting to central and West Bristol from South Bristol and North Somerset.

People crossing from Hotwells to Create Centre, Lockside Restaurant, allotments at Bower Ashton and

to attend football matches and other events at Ashton Gate stadium.

Local people exercising dogs.

disused toilet block

site of former cafe


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Benefits of improving the siteProvision of open space for Hotwells & Cliftonwood

Discounting verges and road islands, public open space for the 6,000 residents in this parish is limited to a

scrap of land in Argyll Place which has some play equipment and a small and rather bleak play area for

young children adjoining Charles Place. There are some privately-owned communal gardens in the

neighbourhood (eg. Dowry Square, the Polygon, Cliftonwood Terrace) which are not available for uncon-trolled public use. Hotwells School has a small green which is well-below the statutory recommended size

for playground provision. Brandon Hill adjoins the Eastern boundary of the parish but is approximately 1.5

km from households near Cumberland Basin.

Developing the space at Cumberland Basin is the only option for providing better recreational facilities for

this high-density city neighbourhood.

Facilitating community and

economic development

Hotwells is one of the most

important heritage areas out-

side of central Bristol and the

surviving evidence of the 18th

century spa and 19th century

industrial eras could be made a

much more attractive draw for

visitors to Bristol. The Harbour-

side walkway, ferry and bus

networks serve Hotwells well

but currently terminate

around Junction lock at the

eastern end of Cumberland

Basin. Making the Entrance

Lock area more attractive, im-

proving signage and interpre-

tation of the locks and exploit-ing the vista of the Avon Gorge

and Clifton Suspension Bridge

would draw more visitors into Hotwells as the natural end of a Floating Harbour circuit and increase the

visibility of our existing pubs, restaurants and galleries.

Creating a fitting gateway to Bristol

The journey through the Avon Gorge along the Portway is one of the most spectacular routes into an Eng-

lish City. The view of the Clifton terraces from the approach to the Plimsoll Bridge is also a memorable intro-

duction to Bristol. All this is currently marred by the dereliction of the piazza area where these two routes

meet. Our aim is to develop a plan for the space that has regard not only for local needs but provides an

appropriately welcoming impression for visitors using the roads and paths that cross the site.

Improving cycling and walking links

The increased importance of this site as a hub for cycle and walking networks is a recent phenomenon.

Major nearby traffic-free routes include the Portway path, The Bristol to Pill route, the new Connect2

route to North Somerset, the Harbourside walkway and the chocolate block path along the New Cut. Re-

cent construction of a new shared pedestrian/cycle path along Cumberland Basin Road has reduce the

width of this road to one traffic lane and introduced a new crossing point which has improved the connec-

tion between the piazza area and the waterfront at the Entrance Lock. The site features in routes used by

thousands of people in Bristol half-marathon and 5km runs and events like the Great Bristol Bike Ride. We

feel that the site could be designed to respond better to these new patterns of usage and demand.

BCC, having considered various alternatives, now favours the refurbishment of the Brunel Swivel Bridge

across the Entrance Lock as the best way of completing the Connect2 route into North Somerset. If this is

achieved it will reinforce the importance of the Lockside Park as the access point to the bridge and the fo-

cus of more visitor interest.

view showing the relationship of the site to Avon Gorge, the Cliftonterraces and the Floating Harbour Entrance Lock with the BrunelSwivel Bridge in the foreground.


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How we arrived at this schemeAn article about the Cumberland Basin Piazza appeared in the community newspaper Hotwells & Clifton-

wood News in Autumn 2009. This was distributed to around 2500 households in Hotwells & Cliftonwood.

We asked people for their ideas about new uses for the site which produced

around 80 responses. The results of the survey were analysed to focus on

the most popular and practical suggestions and a steering group wasformed, including professional architects and landscape designers, to inte-

grate these ideas into a workable solution as a prelude to further consulta-

tion at local level.

The most popular suggestions were for:

Park/ Greenspace

Heritage Exhibition/ Museum

Teen Park

Community building which might include workshops and caf

Woodland

Sculpture Park/ Trail Cycle Hub

Note: a previous petition, circulated to residents in the immediate neighbourhood, requested more car-

parkingspace. This did not emerge as a popular option in the subsequent survey but was retained as an

aspiration, pending further consultation.

The idea of a museumwe have interpreted as providing some interpretation boards, plaques or discs

imbedded in the pavement to create a trail covering Hotwells/ Docks history specific to the site.

Woodlandhas been interpreted as tree planting because a dedicated wood was considered by the steer-

ing group to conflict with the aim of facilitating multiple uses for the site.

What we plan to doTwo alternative outline plans have been produced. These share the same basic layout for elements like

buildings and car parking and support similar uses. However, Scheme 1 envisages an area of concentrated

tree-planting north of the Bennett Way ramp which crosses the middle of the site and a more open space

with childrens play area fronting the lock to the south. Scheme 2 suggests planting more evenly around

the boundary in both these areas to isolate them from the impact of the surrounding roads. The steering

grup has not adopted one or the other of these as a preferred scheme and both are being offered for dis-

cussion at the next stage of consultation (outline plans for both schemes are on pages 7-8 ).

The following is a description of the major features that would be included:

Urban Wood

The Urban Wood in Scheme 1 complements the Dowry Square private garden at the City end of HotwellsRoad. It will be a significant feature, when mature, as you drive into Bristol from the Portway, over the Fly-

over from SW Bristol, or leave Central Bristol for the SW. giving a contrast to the adjacent water, buildings

and trees. The trees may also absorb some of the Flyover noise and improve the quality of air.

The Urban Wood works at a significant scale in the urban landscape, like the Flyover, Cumberland Basin,

Plimsoll Bridge and the terraced escarpments of Hotwells and Clifton Wood.

Planting will be of light leafed trees: birch or ash, forming a canopy to walk under, planted in tree pits cut

into existing hard paving. White stems designed to contrast with the existing dark macadam surfacing. The

underside of the tree canopy will be two and a half metres minimum. This is a walking, sitting, talking area

for all ages.

The existing paving surface may be upgraded in due course with the rope walk, to give a smooth path for

buggies, wheel chairs etc.


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Display Structure

Three steel masts 7 or 8 metres high, facing the incoming traffic from the Portway, traffic coming over the

flyover and pedestrians, coming from Dowry Square.

Electric motors in each mast will operate a steel cable winch that hoists banners on each face of the triangu-

lar structure, with controls behind locked access panels.

The banners might announce arrival in the City, arrival at Hotwells Lockside Park and current City events.

Car Park

Tarmac surface with perimeter of grass and trees.

This extra parking might help prevent the grass verges around the Rose of Denmark being used for parking.

However City officers have indicated that extra parking provision would need to be linked to the new build-

ing development only.

Open Space/ Play Area

In Scheme 1 the existing half-moon shaped

play area to be re-developed. Hard surface

removed and grassed over with the line of

existing trees continued with an informal

path along the edge.

This is part of the Harbourside, Lockside,

Hotwells Heritage Walk to the Clifton Sus-pension Bridge and up the steps to Clifton

Village. Families, children and friends can

picnic here, play, watch boats and ships

come through the locks.

Also a covered play area beneath the flyover

ramp with a slide and swings for supervised

children. The open space faces south and is

as open as possible to the water front.

There is some perimeter planting of shrubs

and climbers against Bennet Way.

Community space / GalleryThis is a room for hire by the local community, where drinks and simple food might be served and bicycles

hired.

There might be an indoor local history display or local artists work.

City officers consider that a public caf might not be welcome as it could compete with Lockside Restaurant

on the south side of the Basin.

Interpretation panels

Panels under the Flyover could interpret the local history of Hotwells in the 18th, 19th, and 20th Century,

the development of the Spa, the work of Jessop and Brunel, the locks and Cumberland basin, the Flyover

development and the new Hotwells Lockside

Park. These are positioned adjacent to the

intersection of the two main pedestrian cycle

routes: east/west heritage route and the

north/south Hotwells/Southville Bedminster

route.

Wheels Park

As an urban space with some large immov-

able concrete structures , there are a number

of potential spaces where facilities for teenag-

ers could be developed.

Commercial Office/workshops

These are for local businesses and may pro-

vide some commercial revenue to support the

park running costs. Part of the ground floor

might be used by the community instead of

or in addition to the Gallery/CommunitySpace.

south side of site showing fencing that enclosed formerplay area

this space has potential for a commercial building up to

2 storeys with minimal impact on other uses or existingproperties


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Landscape buffer

Low to medium height shrubs and herbaceous planting to provide a screen from traffic noise and limit ac-

cess to the low-level roads from the park.

Faraday Road underpass

This existing feature is to be filled in and grassed over, perhaps using surplus material recycled from other

parts of the site.

Toilets

These could be refurbished or used for storage or even as a community-use building of some sort. Sedum

and other low growing drought resistant wildlife friendly planting above toilets and at base of foot bridge

would contributes to the greening of the site.Sculpture TrailThe wooded area may offer an opportunity for large scale art display, with temporary or permanent work

by local artists and students.

Public Seating

Once available at several points around the site, now needs to be restored with modern, vandal-resistant

designs.

Resourcing the projectThe project is readily adaptable to a phased development, over a number of years if necessary, to match

available funding.

One possible source of money could be a joint community/ commercial use development, with a commer-

cial building on the East side of the site financing some community facilities and/or a contribution towards

ongoing maintenance. A precedent for this has been set by the building of office/workshop units under the

ramps on the south side of Cumberland Basin.

Additional funding for the development could be sought from the Clifton Neighbourhood Partnership and

by allocating the Parks contribution from future Section 106 agreements in the Hotwells area to this pro-

ject. (Historically, there being no official parks in Hotwells, the money has gone to support open spaces

outside of the immediate neighbourhood).

Lottery Funding, for example from the Community Spaces fund, could play a part in an overall funding

package.

It is envisaged that the management and especially ongoing maintenance of the park will receive strongpractical support from local people to minimise direct costs to BCC.

Future Actions The design proposals need to be further developed through more consultaton with the lo-

cal community.

The site should be added to the list of formal or informal open spaces included in the BCC

Area Parks & Green Space Strategy. Currently it has no classification, although a suggestion

has been made that it should be used as a wheels park .

A political commitment is needed to ensure The Parks Dept. share of Section 106 funding

arising from new development in the neighbourhood should be allocated to this site or

other open spaces within the ward.

The Steering Group and BCC should seek possible commercial development partners that

might help to fund a community building or other elements of the scheme.


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Documents

Hotwells Park Proposal