|
 |
PlanningWest NorwoodA Vision for The FutureThere are 4 main threads of land use in West Norwood. Residential (of long standing), industrial, shopping/commercial and recreational. As with many parts of London the High Street has lost its role and West Norwood’s High Street has become Norwood Road with a long series of parades of shops and businesses. This kind of development has, in turn, become a place where people congregate and work, and in due course created a need – so far unmet - for a location for community services. Norwood Road reflects this process over the years and exploits its prominence and convenience for traffic. By its nature however it remains an extended shopping/ business/ commercial area on each side of a major road with no central focus. There is no doubt that West Norwood needs such a central feature. What is proposed however in MD049 Lambeth Council’s consultation document) does not address the need, and only serves to spread West Norwood across an area that is mainly residential in character and which is well away from the historic centre of the West Norwood community. The Society has for some time given thought to the future of West Norwood, and to its obvious need for a central feature to serve the community there in the future. Such a centre already exists and includes the library, 2 churches (one listed), an imposing entrance and forecourt to a cemetery, a railway station, a theatre, a bus station and the old attractive restored library building. There are also sports facilities, existing and planned, nearby. What the immediate area lacks however is a pedestrian area that links most of these features and community services, but it is currently sadly divided by busy traffic that makes crossing the roads hazardous and unattractive, as well as creating pollution with noise and fumes. Our view is therefore that attention should be transferred away from the York Hill – Lansdowne Road - Norwood Road to what would be a natural community hub for West Norwood. We have of course considered what solutions exist to deal with the problem of traffic. Rerouting the roads is an obvious and attractive option, but in practice unlikely to be achieved because of lack of alternative routes and of course massive expense. But Norwood Road where it takes over from the High Street has to pass under a railway bridge, and its access could be accommodated in a modest and short underpass (no wider than the bridge access) beginning at the entrance to Robson Road. It would then be covered to enable a large fully pedestrianised precinct to take in the forecourt of St Luke’s Church and enable peaceful enjoyment of the library. The large area released for community use would then be capable of providing cafes and restaurants (and perhaps some single-storey shops), and space for public events such as outdoor concerts. The railway and bus stations would provide a steady flow of people, and of course the church and the library would fit in very well. The well-known West Norwood Cemetery has many visitors, and is the subject of guided walks because of the famous people buried there. Such a popular civic centre would create its own demand for investment and regeneration in the area. There will without doubt be voices raised about the cost of the underpass and how it would fit into the local area, but in view of the very considerable benefits that would result it should be possible to satisfy them. We believe that regeneration should be driven by community interests and needs, and not solely by housing and supermarkets. The South Norwood Conservation AreaRegeneration and The FutureThe creation of a Conservation Area in South Norwood some years ago was intended to preserve the character of the area and wherever possible enhance it. Now there are proposals, supported by public funding, to regenerate the area, which gives people an opportunity to put together a radical scheme to raise the standard of the area and use it to serve as an example for other regeneration schemes. Such a scheme, however imaginative, is as follows: South Norwood District Centre consists of a narrow distributor road with heavy and continuous traffic. There are shops, offices & restaurants/fast food outlets bordering it. A focus point is the ornamental clock tower, recently restored, at the access road to Norwood Junction Station. The Station is a major interchange and will be the first of only two stops when the East London Line is extended to West Croydon in several years’ time. It will then clearly become an even busier place than it is now. There will obviously be scope for regeneration to encourage property owners to upgrade their houses and shops, and no doubt grants will be made available for renovation, redecoration and brick-cleaning to bring out obscured features. There will also no doubt be stricter enforcement of the conservation area requirements than has been apparent so far. This scheme could put South Norwood Conservation Area on the map as an example of what could be achieved with co-operation and partnerships between developers, property owners, residents, High Street business groups and transport providers, with Croydon Council leading the field armed with a clear vision for the long-term future of the District Centre. The proposals outlined in this article (Regeneration and the Future) are to create, over a period, a Civic Square in the heart of the area now occupied by two tower blocks in Grosvenor and Belgrave Roads. Most if not all of the land is already owned by Croydon Council which would then act as the prime mover in advancing the scheme. The tower blocks would at some stage be demolished in line with the national trend against family-hostile accommodation of this kind. The rather plain buildings in the High Street between Belgrave and Grosvenor Roads could possibly be removed (although they could remain with remodelling of the rear) thus opening up to passers-by and bus travellers what would be an attractive landscaped Civic Square, suitably paved, planted and provided with a central feature of some kind – a prime candidate would be the relocated clock tower on a plinth surrounded by steps. The ornamental gate pillars rescued from Oliver Grove and currently hidden away along Selhurst Road at a minor entrance to the Recreation Ground could also be relocated to provide a striking entrance to the Square. The boundaries of the East and South sides of the Square, and part of the West side, could then be made available for low-rise developments of housing and shops, cafes, and other facilities to create a revitalised and extended District Centre opening on to the Square. Some would of course serve to replace the housing and any shop fronts lost if the High Street frontage were to be opened up. The East side of the Square could be extended to make the Square as large as possible - it could then usefully include the rear of the Jolly Sailor with its garden facilities. It should be possible to provide ample replacement accommodation units in imaginatively designed low-rise buildings above the new commercial and retail units. Part of the West side of the Square is currently occupied by the Beaver Homes housing development and the surviving facade of the Stanley offices and workshops. The ground floor of that development could be converted into shops; restaurants etc and thus follow the pattern of the rest of the Square while retaining most of the residential accommodation. The access from Norwood Junction Station to the area proposed for the Civic Square is currently only a footpath (albeit a wide one) running East alongside the railway fence. Clearly this would not be sufficient to encourage commuters and others to come to the Civic Square and its facilities rather than use Station Road, currently narrowed by the Clock Tower and the long ramped subway entrance. However, if the ground floor of what used to be William Stanley’s workshop were to be opened up as a well-lit arcade with a glazed extension to embrace the existing footpath this could provide a real and attractive incentive to enjoy the Square. There is otherwise an alternative access point further up Station Road through the ground floor of existing buildings. Some serious thought could be given to a connection (perhaps a single tunnel combination) between the under-platform tunnel and the public footpath tunnel, and a possible extension to the Civic Square. If a scheme were to rearrange the subway access in Station Road the space thereby released could constitute a major enhancement and regeneration opportunity for the Station approach and forecourt.
It should not of course be only shops, businesses and offices that attract people to the Civic Square. There could be events of a different kind to those that are presently organised for North End Croydon (where the public is rationed to a brief lunch break or break from shopping), whereas the commuter public returning in the evenings would have free and relaxed time to shop and use restaurants closer to home. Furthermore the library, currently located awkwardly at some distance from the District Centre, could be relocated in part of the Square, perhaps using a corner site, thus adding to its popularity and use over six days of the week. A new library could be designed for dual use as a normal library with its limited opening hours, and as a small cinema (seating, say, 60) on other occasions. There is a clear need for a modern entertainment and leisure facility of some kind in the area to fit in with cafes, restaurants, and pubs. The current use of part of the site as a bus terminus would not continue, although part of the vacant space left if the High Street frontage were to be opened up could certainly be used as a convenient stopping bay. That could, in addition, also ease the traffic flow in a narrow major thoroughfare. The relocation of the Clock Tower to the Square would enable buses to turn into Station Road and use a terminus by the Station. Some thought will inevitably need to be given to parking, but it will be important to avoid dedicating too much of the precious open space to accommodate vehicles, their movements, and their pollution. The area needs to be pedestrianised to the maximum extent possible to make it a really attractive focus for the South Norwood community. A partnership between a major developer and the Council would be the best (although not the only) way ahead for this scheme. There will no doubt be many practical problems, but a well-thought-out scheme encouraging co-operation will solve most of them, particularly if the Council takes an energetic role and is prepared, if necessary, to help with compulsory purchase powers. A scheme could be put together to serve as a basis for a public consultative exercise, and there could be massive support for what would be a radical and pioneering initiative by Croydon Council in promoting the importance of conservation areas and of regeneration schemes. It could be seen as a landmark example of urban revitalisation. It could be the backbone of a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), and such a scheme, or something similar, is worthy of serious and thorough consideration. Eric Kings, Chairman, Norwood Society
|
|
|
© The Norwood Society
|
