The Newsletter of Cheltenham Civic Society Issue 14 | March 2019

Your regular update on how we are working to keep CHELTENHAM a great place to thrive

From our Chairman page 2

Diary dates – upcoming events page 3

Through the planning process page 4

Among the Tantivy hills page 5

Breakthrough on Boots Corner? page 6-7

What’s in this timeBattlefield Crosses project nearing completion page 8

Cheltenham lit up again page 9

Civic Awards shortlist revealed! page 10

Good news for urban trees page 11

Recycling for Gloucestershire page 12

Good architecture and sympatheticrestoration of historic buildingsare worth recognising. One mightargue about what constitutes ‘goodarchitecture’ or even ‘sympatheticrestoration’, but the Civic Societytries to acknowledge both throughthe Civic Awards scheme. We runthis on behalf of the Borough Council‘for the encouragement of standardsof excellence in the restoration ofhistoric buildings and other worksof improvement in Cheltenham’sbuilt environment’.

There are five categories: new build,environmental improvements,restoration, shopfront design and ‘green’buildings. This year there were thirtytwo nominations, of which eighteenwere shortlisted; these were then visitedby the awards panel which decides(often with heated debate) who shouldreceive an award or a commendation.The shortlist is on page 10.

The awards and commendations arepresented at a ceremony, followedby a lecture by a national, or even,international figure. Details are onpage 3 and the enclosed invitation.

This year’s Civic Award’s Lecture,

presented by the architect (and formerMayor of Bristol) George Ferguson,promises to be stimulating andchallenging. Entitled Igniting the UrbanRegeneration Fuse, he (or rather, WilliamShakespeare), asks ‘What is the citybut the people?’. George goes on to say‘Urban regeneration’ is a much used,and misused, term. Real regenerationis not about building, as developersand politicians would sometimes haveus believe - but is a social and culturalprocess best exercised by free citizensand responded to by architects, developersand councils. Real regeneration is aboutreleasing the pent-up desire that liesin all of us to improve the place that welive, work and play. It is more about food,health, social wellbeing and mobilitythan it is about financial prosperity.I have had the great privilege of beingable to bring a life in architecture,history and the environment, togetherwith a passion for people and place tothe serious job of briefly running thecity which I came to as a student in thesixties. Everywhere is different, and thatis to be celebrated, but the principlesremain the same, whether in Bristol,Barcelona or Cheltenham!’

Cheltenham Civic Awards 2019

George Ferguson CBE PPRIBA RWA;co-founder of Ferguson MannArchitects and founder of AcanthusAssociated Architectural PracticesLimited, RIBA President 2003-05;Mayor of Bristol 2012-16.

Entrance, Tobacco Factory, Bristol

Café, Tobacco Factory, Bristol

Tobacco Factory, Bristol

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From the Chairman, Andrew

Let me start with something positive:the Battlefield Crosses project is goingvery well. The research and conservationstage has finished, we’ll shortly berededicating them and we’re workingwith Cheltenham Borough Council tosecure a permanent home for them.This is a fantastic project and if you can,book tickets for Freddie Gick’s talk on7 May.

Meanwhile, I have to be candid and sayI was puzzled and a bit disappointed thatonly 7 per cent of you have yet respondedto our recent online membership survey.Organisations like ours must satisfy theneeds and expectations of their members,otherwise they don’t flourish. Perhapsour survey was too long; perhaps you arequite happy with how we run the societyand are content with what we do.Whatever the answer, we really need

more feedback, so that we offer theright things in future. Please, if youare on email, find the survey athttp://bit.ly/2SepSYR and send it back.

Our Town is published quarterly but,between issues, we send out brief emailupdates, though these will only reachthe two-thirds of members who havegiven us a current email address. Doplease let the Membership Secretaryknow if you have acquired or changedan email address, so that you get allthe news as soon as it comes out.His address is on the back page.

If we don’t have an email address for you,we enclose a copy of the survey. Pleasecomplete it and send it back by 31 March.Our address is on the back page.

I was surprised, too, that we have hadvery little feedback on our Boots Cornerresponse. This trial is one of the most

contentious schemes the town has facedin recent years (our MP says it accountsfor far more of his mailbag than theother B word!), so why are we so quietabout it? Are we content to stay passiveon such important matters? We thinkthere are options that address some ofthe concerns over the proposal, some ofwhich are set out on pages 6-7. I wouldwelcome your thoughts – and my emailaddress is on the back page.

Finally, to our popular talks. You can nowbuy tickets in advance, if you wish, viaour website, using PayPal. It’s secure,simple and quick. It also helps us preparefor events better, rather than guessinghow many will turn up on the night.Please give it a go!

Join the debate by following us onfacebook.com/cheltenhamcivicsocietyand @cheltcivicsoc on Twitter.

A fourth CheltenhamVC honoured James HodsdonThe highlight of a long and distinguished militarycareer was the award of a VC, for bravery in actionin France on 11 and 12 April 1918, to Lt-Col JamesForbes-Robertson, whose family home was at60 London Road.

The Mayor of Cheltenham, Cllr Bernard Fisher, willbe unveiling a blue commemorative plaque to Forbes-Robertson on 11 April. Three other Cheltenham VCshave already been honoured in this way, and it isgood to be able to ‘complete the set’. If you wouldlike to come to the ceremony, please contact me atjj49@btinternet.com. More details are on page 3.

Welcome tonew members

• Peter Clegg

• Paul Davies

• Liz Giles and Richard Seymour

• Alan Jamieson

• Mike Lake

• Dr John and Mrs Jean McElroy

• Oliver Pointer and Judith Hardy

• Graham and Barbara Stopher

Diary datesEveryone is welcome to attend our talks and lectures.

Wednesday 20 MarchAnnual General Meetingand Open ForumThe Agenda, Minutes 2018, Chairman’sReport and Accounts 2019 will be onthe website two weeks before theAGM. The Open Forum is members’opportunity to ask questions, makesuggestions and get involved.Refreshments will be served.

7.30pm | Parmoor House13 Lypiatt Terrace GL50 2SX

Wednesday 10 AprilCheltenham Civic AwardsPresentation and LecturePresentation of awards (managedby the Civic Society on behalf ofthe Borough Council) by the Mayorof Cheltenham, Cllr Bernard Fisher,followed by Lecture, Ignitingthe Urban Regeneration Fuse,by George Ferguson (co-founderof Ferguson Mann Architects inBristol, entrepreneur and firstelected Mayor of Bristol 2012-16.)

Booking details for membersenclosed with this newsletterand on our website for all.

6pm | Chapel ArtsKnapp Road, Cheltenham GL50 3QQ

Thursday 11 AprilUnveiling of commemorative blue plaquein honour of Lt-Col James Forbes-Robertson. All are welcome to attendthe ceremony.

2.30 for 3pm | 60 London RoadCheltenham GL52 6EQ

Tuesday 7 MayCheltenham’s battlefieldcrossesFormer Chair of Civic Voice, Freddie Gickwill describe the Civic Society’s project torestore and conserve twenty two woodenWW1 battlefield crosses from theBouncers Lane cemetery and the researchbeing undertaken by pupils from PittvilleSchool into the men they commemorate.The talk will be set in the context of theconditions at home, and on the WesternFront, when the crosses were first erected,and will consider the relevance of thiskind of project for today’s young people.

7.30pm | Parmoor House13 Lypiatt Terrace GL50 2SX

Saturday 11 MayBattlefield crosses rededication.All welcome. Further details on thewebsite nearer the time.

3pm | Cheltenham Minster44 Clarence Street GL50 3PL

Talks are currently £7.50 per person (£5 for a member), payable at the dooror by PayPal via our website. Tickets for lectures at outside venues usuallyneed to be booked in advance and prices vary, depending on the venue.

Derek Rowles‘Charnes’, 11 Tivoli Road, Cheltenhamis the proud recipient of not one,but two, blue plaques, the firstcommemorating actor Sir RalphRichardson (1982) and second,nursing pioneer Dame SidneyBrowne (2017).

‘Charnes’ was the home for over fortyyears to Derek Rowles and his family,and we are saddened to learn ofDerek’s recent death. I had thepleasure of meeting him at theunveiling of Dame Sidney’s plaque,when his panache and enthusiasm forhis predecessors came across to all.His articles about both Sir Ralph andDame Sidney were published in theCheltenham Local History Society’sJournal in 2004 and 2003 respectively.

We extend our sympathy toRosemary and Susannah.

Fiona Clarke, Editor

“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.” Peter F. Drucker

Pupils from Pittville School

Lt-Col JamesForbes-Robertson

Civic Awards awardees 2016 for Pittville Gates restoration

Detail of battlefield cross

Pittville School pupils with a battlefield cross

Derek, on right, at DameSidney plaque unveiling

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An application for planning permissiongoes through several stages, one ofwhich is consultation. Neighbours areautomatically consulted by the planningauthority; other interested groups,such as the Architects’ Panel and theCivic Society, comment formally onsignificant applications.

Developers sometimes gauge localreaction to a development before makinga formal application. A current exampleis Roberts Limbrick Architects, based inGloucester and working with Black BoxPlanning Ltd from Bristol, who areproposing to develop the site of the1950s BT telephone repeater stationin Parabola Road for housing.

The developers’ preferred option is todemolish the existing building and toerect a four-story apartment block withtwelve flats, twenty car parking spacesand a bicycle store. A large sycamore onthe site is to be felled to allow lime treesadjacent to the street frontage toflourish. Some flats are provided withbalconies, and there is some ‘amenity’

space around the proposed building.

The architects held meetings with theBorough Council’s Planning Departmentand a public consultation meeting forlocal residents in late 2018. Overall, bothgroups were positive about the designand landscaping. The architects acceptedan invitation from the Civic Society tomake a presentation, in December, toits Planning Forum and Trustees; twelvepeople attended.

The reaction from the Civic Society wasless positive than that of the PlanningDepartment and local residents. Manyof our group consider the repeaterstation a good example of early post-warmodernism, of which there are notmany examples in Cheltenham.Historically, it represents a period inearly communications technology ina town whose future depends on newtechnology. We should protect examplesof good architecture from other periods.

The Civic Society encourages modernarchitecture; in fact many members

believe that the standard of muchnew building in Cheltenham is abysmal.This begs the question: are developersand planners being too cautiouswith respect to our Regency heritage,resulting in generally mediocredevelopment? It is acknowledged thatit is a difficult brief for an architectto design a contemporary building,in an historic townscape, which respectsits historic surroundings, but is notsubservient to them.

The proposals for this Parabola Roadredevelopment were considered tobe too safe and self-effacing. It wasthought that a building which was morechallenging, more imaginative, andmore interesting would be appropriate.Another solution would be to retain thetelephone repeater station and adapt itfor housing, with a sensitively designedminimalist extension, to provide thetwelve flats required by the developer.It was also suggested that the developershould provide more green space andlandscaping to encourage biodiversity.

Through the planningprocess – a casestudy in consultationBruce Buchanan

In Trollope’s Miss Mackenzie, theeponymous heroine’s doctorrecommends a change of air: “Littlebath,among the Tantivy hills.” Littlebath isreminiscent of Cheltenham, with itswaters good for the system, and itsclergyman who opposes “… card-playing and dancing … hunting andhorse-racing,” like Francis Close. YetTrollope avoided a clear identification,and so was free to embellish as he liked.Contemporary writer Kim Fleet, on theother hand, does call the setting of hertime-slip crime novels Cheltenham, butinvents street and building namesslightly different from the true ones.

My own first novel, Inscription, happensmostly on the Italian island Ponza, twothousand years ago. Long before thebook was dreamt of, I’d been there;during the years of writing I returned.I absorbed the white cliffs, turquoisesea, unchanged since the first century;but ruins had to be re-imagined. Those

Roman pool enclosures once teemedwith fish, had moving partitions, shell-work ornament.

Now, I’m trying a place and time lessdistant: mid-nineteenth centuryCheltenham. And it’s, well, a differentkettle of fish. So much is known aboutVictorian Cheltenham; I’m less free toinvent. Yet some things I must; like myprotagonist’s address. Directories tellwho really lived where, so I too will createa place-name similar to a real one. Shewill have an invented street in a real partof town, and I’ll include true names likeMontpellier Gardens, the Promenade,or Wight’s Theological Library (once inthe urn-topped building where Jonesshoe shop was until recently).

Sources abound. The newspapers arefull of distracting titbits: in autumn 1846,Crux and Chilcott of Montpellier stockedthe “Sikh wrapper” cashmere shawl, withits twenty different effects; in November1848, Jenny Lind sang at the MontpellierRotunda; in February 1844, Francis Closereceived, by post, a dead boy in a hamper.Contemporary guidebooks help, likeGeorge Rowe’s Illustrated CheltenhamGuide, or The Spas of England byAugustus Granville, who recommendsPump Number Four at Montpellier. Oldmaps, like those in Parmoor House, areuseful too. For a modern perspective,there are many histories of Cheltenham,and I can consult experts in local historysocieties, the Cheltenham Local andFamily History Centre and The Wilson.

Questions never end. What was MonckMason’s Aerial Machine? Would I havebeen captivated by Lectures on Heavenand Earth, with its “thirty-nine moveabletransparent diagrams, plus dissolvingdiorama, plus chroma trope”? Or byFanny Kemble’s Shakespeare readings?Could my book even mention that famedactress, or superstar poet Tennyson?

Cheltenham is my home town, andwhere I live, after years abroad; butthat’s not primarily why I chose it forthis novel. Rather, it’s the right settingfor themes I want to explore: rituals,like taking the waters, or church-going;religious tensions, like the anti “Papist”sentiment encouraged by Close.

You’d think writing the book would beeasier because I live here, but I’m notsure. Didn’t James Joyce say he couldn’thave written Ulysses if he’d stayed inDublin? Yet I hope my book will evoke,however faintly, the air of mid-VictorianCheltenham.

Among the Tantivy hills:Challenges of setting a novel in CheltenhamChristine Whittemore

Proposal plan by Roberts Limbrick Architects

Wight’s Theological Library from Rowe’s Illustrated Cheltenham Guide 1850

BT telephone repeater station

Christine Whittemore lived inCheltenham as a young adult, and hasreturned after many years abroad.Her award-winning novel Inscription(Sowilo Press, 2015) and her poetrycollection, Sudden Arabesque,(Oversteps Books, 2017) explore themesof place, nostalgia, and home-coming.

For more about Christine’s work go towww.christine-whittemore.net

Monck Mason’s Aerial Machine

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Breakthrough onBoots Corner?A proposal for an alternative routeAndrew Booton

To continue in the search forcollaborative solutions as advancedin my article in December’s issue,the Civic Society is co-hosting a publicmeeting with St Paul’s Residents’Association on Monday 8 April at6.30pm at St Paul’s Church. It willexplore constructive solutions for theBoots Corner closure. Free tickets canbe booked online (rather than includea very long URL just enter EventbriteBoots Corner into your browser anddetails should come top of the list).Details are also on our Facebook page.

Meanwhile, to show there ARE alternativesto what has been proposed so far, let metake you through some ideas.

Last November, Cheltenham Civic Societyresponded to the idea of closing BootsCorner to traffic. The policy of leavingtraffic to ‘find its own way’ was consideredunhelpful to drivers, risked creatingpollution hotspots and traffic congestion,and was unnecessarily irritating a largenumber of citizens and traders. HereI am going one step further by proposingan alternative north-south route toaddress these concerns and to enablea number of other developments andimprovements. The proposal is notperfect, but it offers environmental,transport and redevelopment benefits,as well as financial viability.

The routeThe proposed route would run betweenthe junction of Lower High Street/St George’s Street in the north, downAmbrose Street, St James Square andthrough the current public car park tojoin up with Royal Well Place until it meetsSt George’s Road in the south. This newroute would handle two way traffic alongits full length, enabling transit both northto south and south to north. There isalso potential to improve the High Street/Poole Way/Swindon Road junctionsnear the sorting office to reduce traffictransiting St George’s Street.

Principal advantagesThe proposal has a number of advantagesthat make it not just financially viablebut operationally attractive:

• it enables the redevelopment of theMunicipal Offices and Royal Well Road,generating significant public funds,

estimated to be well in excess of £20M.This is an important space withconsiderable architectural significanceand potential that merits an architecturalcompetition to decide the nature offuture redevelopment.

• Boots Corner would be closed to alltraffic apart from delivery, emergencyand municipal cleaning vehicles (eventhen, controls should be put in placeto keep them out of the pedestrianisedarea in the daytime). This would enablefull pedestrianisation of the High Streetbetween the Brewery Quarter andCambray Place. It would also allowthe full pedestrianisation of ClarenceStreet from Imperial Circus, ImperialCircus itself, and the Promenade untilits junction with St George’s Road.

• it facilitates redevelopment of CheltWalk car park to commercial ormunicipal offices. The slope of the sitewould enable two decks of car parkingon-site to create increased parkingcapacity. The development would alsohelp to satisfy the strong demandfor office space in Cheltenham andpresent the opportunity to ‘green’ thesurroundings with planting and trees.This redevelopment could generatea surplus well in excess of £2M.

• Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC)owns and thus controls the main sitesinvolved in this proposal - Royal WellRoad, the Municipal Offices, the coachstation and green, and Chelt Walk carpark - through which the new roadsection would go. Notwithstandingconsultations and finalisation, thiscould enable speedy implementationand the benefits of the scheme couldbe coordinated by CBC itself.

• as a consequence, the generationof over £17M could fully fund thenecessary changes to roads and pavingwithout impinging on GloucestershireCounty Council’s (GCC) highwaysbudget and thus could be implementedwithout undue delay. Section 106agreements would also be used forinfrastructural improvements.

Additional opportunitiesPublic spaces - the proposal createssome significant public spaces:

• Boots Corner, a sizeable public square

that links Promenade and upperClarence Street with the High Street,all of which would be pedestrianised

• Promenade, which would bepedestrianised along its full length

• Lower High Street junction that, withplanting and good design, could be aconstructive link between the BreweryQuarter and the Lower High Street

These will require separate considerationand redesign to realise their fullpotential. Nevertheless, they could beexemplary spaces for entertainment,leisure, exhibitions and festival use.

Street improvements –the proposal offersopportunities to improve:• St James Square, where the square

would become one way (west to east).The southern side of St James Squareadjoining St George’s Place is a widebut poorly laid out and surfaced street.Its width lends it to herringboneon-street parking, which could besignificantly enhanced with streettrees, planting, sympathetic surfaces,signage and markings.

• St George’s Place would also becomeone way (north to south). It is wideenough for on-street parking on oneside of the road. Improved surfacingwould limit traffic speeds, safety andnoise levels.

• Crescent Place is a wide street that,like St James Square, lends itself toherringbone on-street parking, streettree planting and sympathetic surfaces,signage and markings.

On-street parking - the scheme enablesenhanced on-street parking in numerousareas. This also facilitates the provisionof taxi ranks, disabled parking andelectric vehicle (EV) charging in a numberof different locations. Short stay on-streetparking supports town centre visits.

Off-street parking - Royal Well car parkcould either be retained or enhancedto improve the number of spaces andits appearance, or be redeveloped asa prominent site for residential orcommercial use. Either option shouldprovide for perimeter planting and trees.Synagogue Lane car park would beretained but enhanced with better

surfacing and space markings, as wellas perimeter planting and trees.

Bus routes - in the absence of a properbus and coach station, buses could berelocated from High Street area toAlbion Street. The creation of this‘bus spine’ would allow multiplesub-loops and bus stops providingnumerous points for visitors to enterthe central shopping area withoutdisrupting traffic or compromisingpedestrian areas. This would also help

to regenerate the Albion Street areanorth of High Street whilst supportingHigh Street retailers.

Traffic flow - this would be optimisedby establishing an urban clearway,marking parking bays better andenforcing them more rigorously,installing roundabouts instead of trafficlights, and minimising traffic lightson Swindon Road/St Margaret’s Road.Surfaces and markings would keeptraffic flowing steadily at 20-30mph.

Building enhancements - in cooperationwith their owners, the proposal offersthe opportunity to enhance a numberof prominent but disappointing buildingsin the area or redevelopment to a moresuitable use.

These are just a few ideas to mull over.If you care about what happens whenthe Boots Corner trial period is overand are in town on the night, do join usat the meeting on 8 April!

Proposed Alternative Route

Potential Development Sites

Pedestrianised Areas

Parking

Improved Surfaces

Building Facelift Potential

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Battlefield Crosses projectnearing completionFreddie Gick,Battlefield Crosses project manager

The Civic Society’s project to conserve,restore and research the twenty twoWW1 battlefield crosses in BouncersLane cemetery is in its final stages.

The crosses have been worked onby Stephen Umpleby of ArtefactsConservation Services and are nowin much better condition. Stephen hasprovided a report which will be includedin the final report to the Heritage LotteryFund.

Meanwhile, pupils in Pittville Schoolhave been working enthusiastically withtheir teacher, Hannah Taylor, aided andabetted by the Headteacher, RichardGilpin, in researching the stories behindthe crosses. This work has been supportedby a very helpful presentation fromStephen Umpleby and a talk from local

historian, Neela Mann. Neela is theauthor of Cheltenham in the Great War,a definitive account of how Cheltenhamand its people supported the war effort.

One of the crosses, commemoratingPrivate Regan, was seen by one of hisrelatives at an exhibition in the TownHall over the weekend marking the100th anniversary of the Armistice.They made contact and have sinceprovided some valuable informationabout him and his family, greatlyassisting the pupils’ research.

The results of their visits and researchwill be displayed in an exhibition in theschool, on 28 March 2019. As notedelsewhere in this newsletter, a serviceof rededication of the crosses will beheld in the Minster at 3pm on 11 May.

For furtherinformationon these eventsplease see theCivic Society websitenearer the time.

For the moment, the crosses are in safestorage at the cemetery. The Society isalso exploring possible locations for apermanent home for the crosses. Ideallythis will be in a secure building that willprotect the crosses from any furtherdeterioration and still enable them tobe viewed easily by the public.

The Society is very grateful to theHeritage Lottery Fund for making fundsavailable to enable this project and toCheltenham Borough Council for theirsupport.

Cheltenham lit up againFiona Clarke

February is a rather dull month so I was happyto see many of the town’s buildings floodlit,bringing a little cheer to everyone and showingwhat a lovely town we do have, despite all ourcomplaints about pavements and roads. Therewas also a large (35-metres high) observationwheel in Imperial Gardens from Saturday 2 untilSunday 24 February.

It was surrounded by floodlit buildings includingthe Quadrangle, Queens Hotel, the Town Hall,No 131, and the terrace lower down Promenade.The colour schemes changed over the threeweeks and on 14 February, to celebrate Valentine’sDay, the whole town turned red.

The event was also spread across the town fromThe Brewery Quarter, central part of High Street,Clarence Street, Regent Street and North Place.

This initiative came from Cheltenham BusinessImprovement District (BID) team under theleadership of Kevan Blackadder who wrote for usin the December 2018 issue. Light Up Cheltenhamwas held for the first time in 2018 for one weekand this year saw an increase in the number ofbuildings illuminated from six to more than 20over the three week period.

BID’s raison d’être is to encourage local businessesto help improve our town and certainly manycontributed to this event.

September 2019 –a sunnier month?The Civic Society has taken advice from Kevan onanother event which will also expand in 2019 –Heritage Open Days. This will run in England forthirteen days, from 13 to 22 September! Up fromeight in 2018 and four prior to that. ManagingCheltenham’s participation is a challenge at anytime and we hope that some of the buildingswithin the BID area will be willing to open some oftheir ‘hidden places’ to visitors. This is in the veryearly stages of planning and we have no promises.In the meantime, the HODs team is pressing onwith participants from previous years in planningnew walks, talks and other events that bring ourtown’s history to life.Battlefield crosses – before conservation

Battlefield Crosses project Battlefield Crosses project

HiddenCheltenham -follow the trailYou don’t have to wait until Septemberto find some of hidden Cheltenham.Cheltenham BID, with The Wilson andStand + Stare Collective, has published atrail around the town centre, highlightingsome of the less well known buildings andpeople, from the Hepworth Bronzes to TheObservatory. If you don’t know what theseare, get hold of the trail. It is also online andhas its own Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Imperial Gardens

Promenade

Neptune’s Fountain Observation Wheel in Imperial Gardens

Cheltenham BID Director, Kevan, right

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Civic Awards shortlist revealed!To whet your appetite for the awards ceremony and lecture on 10 April, we are publishing

the shortlist for the first time. You’ll be able to see most of the buildings from the road –

please drive or walk by and see what you think!

New building or structure

51 The Park, GL50 2SDRe-modeling of 1970s bungalow fordisabled and granny annex

Lilian Faithfull Homes, Astell House,Overton Park Road, GL50 3BTGarden room extension

Homes for Veterans, cnr BrunswickStreet and Swindon Road, GL50New build apartments

John Lewis, High Street

Tilley Mews, Grove Street, GL51 9LU

5 Short Street, GL53 0DYAlterations and extension to existinggarage to form new dwelling

Prestbury Corner, 62 High Street,Prestbury, GL52 3AZ

Star Lodge, Montpellier Drive, GL50 1TYExtension

One Bayshill Road, GL50 3FHConversion and new build

RestorationRegent House, Montpellier Drive,GL50 1TXResidential refurbishment

61 St. Stephen’s Road, GL51 2AFExtension and refurbishment

Coach House, Prestbury, GL52 3DNRestoration

Formal House, St George’s Place,GL50 3PNWarehouse to offices

The Axiom Apartments,57 Winchcombe Street, GL52 2NGArts centre to housing

The Ivy, PromenadeBank to restaurant

1-2 College Lawn, GL53 7AFNHS offices to girls’ boarding house

EnvironmentalimprovementPocket parks, Lower High Street

ShopfrontMade in Brazil331 Lower High Street

We have provided just a selectionof images from the shortlist.If you wish to see an imageof any other property pleasecontact the Editor. We willpublish the name of thearchitect, contractor and owner(if agreed), and a brief descriptionof the buildings receiving anaward or a commendation inthe next issue of Our Town.

Fiona Clarke, Editor

The Axiom Apartments

61 St Stephen’s Road

5 Short Street

Tilley Mews Pocket parks

Shopfront now occupiedby Made in Brazil Formal House

A selection

of the

shortlisted

buildings

Good news for urban treesBob Beale, Chairman, Cheltenham Tree Group

With all the turmoil over Brexit runningup to Christmas you might have missedthe excitement in Sheffield where amajor row has raged for a number ofyears over the plan to fell a large numberof trees over a fifteen year period andreplace them with little saplings.

5,500 already have been felled, of whichit is claimed that 2,000 were healthy.The policy, according to campaigners,was produced to save money, as saplingsare cheaper to maintain than large trees,

combined with neglect of the existingtree stock over a lengthy period, despiteSheffield’s claim to be the greenest cityin the country.

The Minister for the Environmentexpressed disquiet over the policy inSeptember and the Council (Sheffield)announced just before Christmas thatthe policy would change and in futureno healthy trees would be felled,to general jubilation.

Whether the Sheffield situation had anyinfluence on the decision, or it was justa coincidence, is a matter for conjecturebut the Minister, Michael Gove,announced at the end of December thathe was launching a consultation prior tolegislation to provide greater protectionfor urban trees. He proposes that councilsshould be required to consult residentson plans to chop down trees. Councilsshould be obliged to report on fellingand replanting, with more powers forthe Forestry Commission to tackle illegalfelling and there should be strengthenedprotection for wooded landscapes.

The government had already committeditself to one million trees in urban areasbeing planted by 2022 and, last year,Sir William Worsley was made treechampion, tasked with a remit to driveplanting rates forward and to preventthe unnecessary felling of street treesin urban areas.

Thanks to Bob Beale for permission toreprint his article from CTG’s January2019 newsletter.

Our March 2018 issue featured anarticle by James Tyson, Trees Officer,Gloucestershire Highways, on whymature trees in our urban environmentare felled.

With this recent announcement by thegovernment it seems an opportunemoment to return to the topic.

Sunset, Pittville Circus

Albemarle Gate cedar

Wellington Square

Sheffield tree

Pittville Park, west side

Key Cheltenham Civic Society contactsAndrew Booton Chairman chair@cheltenhamcivicsociety.org.uk

Richard de Carteret Membership Secretary membership@cheltenhamcivicsociety.org.uk

Fiona Clarke Editor Our Town newsletter@cheltenhamcivicsociety.org.uk

Enquiriesm enquiries@cheltenhamcivicsociety.org.uk

, Cheltenham Civic Society, 13 Lypiatt Terrace, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham GL50 2SX

w cheltenhamcivicsociety.org.uk

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @cheltcivicsocand on Facebook.com/cheltenhamcivicsociety

j Registered charity No. 1166580

Photo creditsA C Design (UK) Ltd, Hilary Beale,Andrew Booton, Bruce Buchanan,Cheltenham BID, Fiona Clarke,Clive Petch Architects,Edge Design Workshop,George Ferguson, Ferguson MannArchitects, Friends of Pittville,Freddie Gick, Terry Langhorn,Pittville School, Roberts LimbrickArchitects, Stanley Partnership,Christine Whittemore.

Designed byArt Works, Cheltenham01242 572559

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Letter to the EditorCould do betterIn the last issue of Our Town therewas an interesting article about the‘green corridor’ in the High Streetnear John Lewis. The trees, in thehuge planters imported from China,promise to be lovely. On my first visit,though, I was disappointed to seelitter in the flower beds, spilt foodand drink on and under the seats, andmore around the litter bins. The edgeof one of the seats was damaged. Last week I was pleased to see thearea cleaner, but the seat has beenremoved and not replaced. With thebig investment in this part of theHigh Street, surely it should belooked after better.

Name withheld

Pittville Pump Room revisited“John Forbes, Architect”

Well, I’ve been back to the Pump Roomseveral times since my rant inSeptember 2018. Things are a littlebetter in that there was a big boardoutside saying that the building wasopen to visitors and there was a guideto welcome me once or twice. Therewas even a free booklet to take awayand I was mentioned in it!

I decided to find out more about what’sbeen happening lately and learned twothings:

• a local group has conducted a ‘mysteryshopping’ exercise and produced a reporton the ‘visitor experience’ (all thesemodern words!) which it has sent toThe Cheltenham Trust. This is available

on the group’s website (Friends ofPittville) and they hope to work withthe Trust to further improve matters.

• The Trust itself has commissioned aninquiry into the future use of PittvillePump Room and it has written to ‘keystakeholders’ (what on earth are they?)with a short survey. The deadline was12 February so too late for this issuebut I will report again if I can.

In the meantime, when it’s available, trythe mineral water (one time it wasn’t andthere was an awful handwritten sign onthe fountain). The water doesn’t tastelike it did in my day. Can anyone tell mewhy? Just write to the Editor of thisaugust publication if you know.

Recycling for GloucestershirePeter Sayers

Since our enlightening visit to theborough council’s waste and recyclingcentre in Swindon Road in October 2018,our county-wide civic societies grouphas met again, specifically to look atwaste and recycling across the county.

There is no doubt the information, aboutplastics recycling in particular, is complexand confusing. In other counties, toassist residents Stratford-upon-Avon hasan extensive list of what can and cannotbe recycled into the various boxes.Plastics Free Ltd is using the mantraRefuse-Refill-Reuse-Recycle and sometowns are taking this on. Malmesburyis going one step further, trying tomake the whole town plastic free.A bold initiative!

Here we hope to work with Ubico toproduce a useful list that we and othercivic societies can make available to

residents. Things like children’s plastictoys, the lids of milk cartons, and crisppackets need to be identified/classifiedso that recycling is effective. At themoment, contaminated recyclingcontaining the ‘wrong’ sort of plasticsgoes entirely to landfill. We can all doa bit but, like plastic itself, the bits canadd up to a great deal.

Note from Editor: we await answersfrom Ubico to the questions raised inthe last issue. Perhaps these have beenovertaken by the recent survey ofCheltenham’s waste and recyclingcollections, the results of which areon the council’s website (News). In themeantime, many of us are concernedabout the visual impact of all thosebins and bags and boxes on our streets,especially in the conservation area.This is another issue altogether! Who carries these bins up or down the steps?