Project Type : Re-modelling exercise
Client : Hull City Council
Consultation event
A joint tender submission was made between The Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation and Hull City Services Technical Consultancy in July 2001 to the Preston Road New Deal for Communities Project to undertake a Master Planning Exercise. The submission was successful and work commenced in October 2001.
The Preston Road New Deal for Communities area lies to the east of Hull. The majority of the estate is pre-war and consists of 2,897 properties (84.5% Council owned) and a population of about 6,500 people. The estate traditionally provided employees for the docks and the railways until the decline of these industries.
The population of the estate is predominately white with 0.8% of ethnic minority origin.
The estate is physically divided into four quarters by a dual carriageway (Preston Road) and by the Holderness Drain, a waterway that serves as a drain for agricultural land in the East Riding.
Although there is a range of amenities on the boundary of the Preston Road estate there is only one shop and very few facilities within the neighbourhood.
Household income levels for the Kingston upon Hull Local Authority are the lowest in Great Britain, and therefore are exceptionally low on Preston Road itself. Car ownership on the estate is low and most people are dependant on bus transport. To travel across the City from Preston Road is difficult and requires more than one bus. This coupled with the high cost of public transport adds to the sense of isolation and the difficulties of seeking employment elsewhere in the City.
The housing stock on Preston Road is generally in a poor state of repair. Much of it dates from between the wars, a high proportion is of non-traditional design and the streets are narrow with poor car parking.
35.4% of the population on the estate are under 16 years of age. There is high unemployment on the estate with 19.3% registered as unemployed. 31% of households on the estate earn £5,000 per annum or less and a further 62.6% of households earn less than £10,000 per annum. (These figures have been taken from the NDC Delivery Plan March 2000).
A range of consultation events took place. Initially we undertook consultation for some of the initiatives that were being planned with New Deal funding. It was anticipated that two community houses would be built on the estate, so we started the consultation process in December by undertaking consultation on the proposed location for the houses. Residents were invited to look at the outline designs for the houses and comment on them. There were also a number of choices about where on the sites the houses should be located. During January we undertook a similar exercise with young people asking their views about the TRAX project (a state of the art skateboarding and mountain bike facility) and inviting them to get more involved in the management of the proposed project.
Five consultation events were organised at the end of February and beginning of March to ascertain residents’ views about the overall development of the estate. This information would be used to draw up the Masterplan for the New Deal Area. A site in the middle of the estate was to be developed as a Village Centre. Architects had already been appointed to draw up the plans for the area and they used the consultation events as an opportunity to gauge resident’s views about the proposed plans.
It was clear from the consultation that residents wanted to see better facilities on the estate. They wanted to see:- more activities for young people, more sports opportunities locally, environmental improvements to the area and additional traffic calming measures. Residents also highlighted the need for better recreational facilities and also more shops locally. Housing was also raised as an issue. Many properties had already been demolished and residents identified sites where they would like to see new housing developed. They particularly wanted to see properties designed for young people and the elderly and adapted housing for people with disabilities. Because a lot of demolition had already been undertaken this had become a sensitive issue. When the Masterplan was produced it showed two options for improvements, one included some selective demolition in order to open up some areas of green space, which could be improved. Residents still have to make a decision about their preferred option.
In order to get the New Deal for Communities money, much consultation had already taken place. It was becoming apparent that residents were beginning to get frustrated by continually being asked what improvements they would like to see in the area and what they really wanted now was for some of the improvements to be implemented. They were particularly concerned about the housing improvements that were proposed for the estate and wanted a clear timetable for the programme of work.
For more information on this contact NIF on 01952 590777 or email admin@nif.co.uk
