Comments on the Draft Planning Brief for ---------------------------------------- Redevelopment of land at Toft Green ----------------------------------- The draft planning brief for the redevelopment of land at Toft Green envisages use of the site for offices development. I wish to propose an alternative use for at least part of the site as a node in a pedestrian network that would link the railway station, the Forsselius garage site, Toft Green, Micklegate and the City Walls. The pedestrian link would pass under the Queen Street and could be further extended to access land beyond the railway station which includes the National Rail Museum and large sites suitable for redevelopment. The link would require careful treatment as levels change from the access point under Queens Bridge to the Toft Green and then up onto the City Walls. Some form of mechanised pedestrian transporter such as an escalator may be appropriate. Purpose ------- The first reason for this alternative proposal is to encourage access to York City centre by pedestrians while discouraging the entry of private cars. The second is to link several sites to allow greater flexibility in their development, greatly enhancing the value of these sites. Pedestrian Access to the City Centre from York Station ------------------------------------------------------ Access to York city centre for pedestrians starting from the station is rather unpleasant, being along Station Rise to Lendal Bridge or alternatively via Queen Street to Micklegate. Both of routes have heavy traffic and generate considerable noise and fumes. Waiting at pedestrian crossings or crossing a dangerous road is necessary. Disabled visitors have several kerbs to negotiate. The development of pedestrian links via the Toft Green site would create these possibilities -- a traffic free route to Micklegate and Toft Green -- use of the city walls for access to Lendal Bridge Both these routes could be made suitable routes for the disabled. In addition to encouraging visitors to York to come by train other transport possibilities include -- the provision of Park and Ride terminus -- use of (light) rail transport for Park and Ride Access to the rear of Blossom Street ------------------------------------ In the quadrilateral formed by Blossom Street, Queen Street, Lowther Terrace and the railway line from York station, there is about ten acres of land. This site contains important buildings such as the Odeon Cinema and The Crescent terrace. Much of the rest of the land is either open or used for purposes which are marginal or would be better located elsewhere. The site also contains the Forsellius Garage and Windmill Hotel site for which a planning brief is available. This quadrilateral is cut off from the pleasantness of the City Centre by Queen Street, a very unpleasant experience for the pedestrian, and Blossom Street, which, although impressive architecturally, is unpleasant to walk along, because of heavy traffic flows This quadrilateral is joined to the station by a car park which adjoins Queen Street Bridge. Having a pedestrian access route between the Railway Station and Toft Green allows access to several sites whose present uses could be changed by redevelopment or conversion. York Railway Station -------------------- York Railway Station is a beautiful building. In conjunction with access via the Toft Green site to the city centre these two possibilities arise : 1) The station as a structure that can be contain commercial development and 2) The use of the Station as a pedestrian spine to the areas surrounding it. The space that the station covers is no longer completely used as part of the railway business. For example, there are platforms next to the Royal Station Hotel which are unused and derelict. The opportunity that the station offers one is reminded of the Covent Garden site in London, which has become an extremely successful commercial enterprise. Covent Garden has showed how it is possible to successfully change the use of a beautiful building and its surroundings. This success has been built on a mixture of different activities. Covent Garden and its surroundings contains shops, offices, entertainment facilities, hotels and residential accommodation. Its success has depended on its accessibility. As a pedestrian spine York Station has enormous possibilities although this could not be accomplished successfully without considerable and careful building work. Areas that the station adjoins are 1) Toft Green and Micklegate (see above) 2) The Forselius quadrilateral (see above) 3) The Riverside (west side) 4) The Riverside (east side - via Scarborough Bridge) 5) Land to the west of the main railway line to the north going out to the outer ring road. This comprises several hundred acres of unused and underused land. Clearly in this short note it is not possible to cover the possibilities for these sites adequately. But I will make a few suggestions for the areas not already mentioned. The Riverside (West) -------------------- To the south of the line to Scarborough and outside the city walls this area includes a the Royal Mail Sorting Office, a garage and car show room and the rowing club. Otherwise, it contains three areas of open land: the gardens of the Royal Station Hotel, the fish pond gardens, and next to the river the memorial gardens. These areas are contiguous except that they are separated by two roads: Leeman Road and the road joining Leeman Road to the approach to Lendal Bridge. The area is separated from the City Walls by Station Rise. The main thing to say about this area is that it is sadly wasted. Its main benefit being to the residents of the Royal Station Hotel who look across it for a pleasant view of York. Despite considerable expenditure on plants and gardening, the uselessness of this open land can be seen by the number of people that use it compared to the Museum Gardens. This is probably because of traffic noise, its windy aspect and the unpleasantness of access by the pedestrian. As this area adjoins Station Rise, which is one of the main pedestrian routes into York, it is unfortunate that nothing better is done. It is even more unfortunate that many visitors to the National Railway museum have the unpleasant experience of walking along Leeman Road and through the long lavatory-tiled tunnel under the Scarborough Line. This also serves as access to the pedestrian route to the Wilton Rise/St Pauls Square area. To the north of the Scarborough line and to the east of the main line there is a pleasant pedestrian and cycle route into York with grass riverbank. The large area of riverbank is not extensively used but it could be argued that this provides a barrier between the tourism of central York and the residents of the Leeman Road area. The Riverside (East) -------------------- Standing on the platforms at the north east end of York Station it is easy to see people taking the pedestrian route over Scarborough bridge. Making a pedestrian connection between these platforms and an improved route over Scarborough bridge would provide one of the best possible pedestrian routes into York City Centre via the river front and possibly the Museum Gardens. In doing so it would greatly enhance the possibilities for the commercial development of the north end of York Station and make it much easier for many York residents who live in the Clifton area and beyond to access the station. Land to the west of the main line going north --------------------------------------------- This is a very large tract of land. To the south of Water End it contains the Carriage Works, the National Railway Museum, allotments and several builders' yard type businesses. To the north of Water End and around the outer ring road there are further large areas of land ready for redevelopment. In total there is probably in excess of two hundred acres that may be available for future development. Clearly possibilities for this area depend on assumptions that can be made about the future of the railways, particularly the future of intercity services to London (which seem assured) and to a lesser extent the future of the Carriage Works (which does not). The reliability and speed of trains to London, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow is likely to improve. Even if there is a significant reduction in cross-country services, it is highly likely that the accessibility of Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham and beyond will still be good. Thus it is very likely that this area, will be one of the most accessible in the country by train. This accessibility will be greatly enhanced if entrances into the station from the north-west is provided. The site can also be given good road access from Water End and York Outer Ring Road. Access to the River Ouse Could be provided if the appropriate engineering work was done. New forms of communication will also enhance the value of the site. Railway tracks are now being used to carry optical fibres that allow vast amounts of information to be cheaply transmitted. There are currently considerable advances in the use of these "broad-band" networks and these are likely to change the nature of current business practice. There are many possibilities for the development of this large site: Urban Village Housing Office Development Theme park Shops Hotels A Technology Park Car Parking near the ring road (Park-and-Train to the centre) As a director of a software company specialising in geodemographics, I would like to live there and have offices there so that I could walk to work. For journeys to major conurbations, where clients and collaborating companies can be found, the accessibility of train travel would be excellent. I know if we had an office in York, existing staff and likely prospective staff feel the same. A Flight of Fancy ----------------- On a grander scale the area could cope with a theme park. My delight would be a theme park with an URBAN GREEN theme. With public concern for the environment still (probably rightly) very intense, a successful theme (if it could be made fun with appropriate rides and exhibits) could be based on the idea that urban people can be far less wasteful of the worlds resources. But, I suppose the efficiency of the bike as a form of transport, sounds a bit tame compared to an Alton Towers style corkscrew ride through a tropical rainforest or a tea shop with locusts in cages. On a (slightly) more serious note, the impact of emerging technology (eg world-wide broad-band communications and computerised image processing) may well attract interest and sponsors. There are large corporations with very great interest in the future of such technologies both for work and play. York Residents -------------- What's in such schemes for York residents? The main answer is that such development would bring in wealth and jobs. In environmental terms it could benefit the residents of the Leeman Road and St Pauls Square/Wilton Rise areas by giving them better pedestrian routes into the Station and York City Centre and it could be used to reduce the impact of the increased number of tourists that must be encouraged if recent property development in York is to be viable. Toft Green ---------- The proposals in the current planning brief for the Toft Green site do not make the grander plans sketched out here impossible. They would however make any larger scale schemes have less flexibility. I would like to ask that these proposals be considered in the wider context. Geoff Beacon January 1992