PART II VOLUME
5
Western Area Proposals
(1.12 HECTARES/2.7 ACRES)
(30.56 HECTARES/75.5 ACRES)
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PART II VOLUME
5 |
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| Wakefield City Centre | |||
| 7.1 INTRODUCTION | |||
| 7.2 THE CITY'S ROLE | |||
| 7.3 THE PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE PLAN | |||
| Land Use | |||
| Transport | |||
| The Local Authority's Role | |||
| 7.4 KEY OBJECTIVES | |||
| 7.5 AREA POLICIES AND PROPOSALS | |||
| 7.6 OUTER AREAS - HOUSING | |||
| 7.7 OUTER AREAS - INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS | |||
| Offices | |||
| Industry and Commerce | |||
| 7.8 INNER AREA | |||
| Transportation | |||
| Housing | |||
| Retailing | |||
| Key Development Sites | |||
| Key Development Areas | |||
| 7.9 SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE | |||
| Cheapside | |||
| Westgate/Marygate | |||
| Market Street/Smythe Street | |||
| 7.10 ENVIRONMENT | |||
| Archaeological Sites | |||
| Conservation Areas | |||
| Design Priority Area | |||
| 7.11 SPECIAL POLICY AREAS | |||
| Introduction | |||
| Clayton Hospital | |||
| Kirkgate/Sun Lane | |||
| Wakefield Waterfront | |||
| 7.1 INTRODUCTION | |||
| 7.1.1 The Wakefield City Centre Inset Map to the Plan provides more detailed policies to guide the development of the City Centre. These detailed policies must nevertheless be read in conjunction with other Plan policies which apply throughout the District. | |||
| 7.1.2 The City Centre Map covers the retail and commercial heart of Wakefield together with areas peripheral to the core which are likely to be the subject of redevelopment or renewal pressures. Also included in the City Centre Map area are the substantial areas of residential, commercial, industrial and institutional activity which surround the City Centre. | |||
| 7.2 THE CITY'S ROLE | |||
| 7.2.1 Wakefield City Centre is the premier shopping centre in the District serving a catchment population of over half a million. The City provides a wide range of high quality shops and serves as a major sub-regional centre in West Yorkshire. This shopping role was greatly enhanced in the early eighties by the development of the Ridings Centre. The success of the Ridings has meant that the majority of multiple fashion and variety retailers are now represented in the City Centre. | |||
| 7.2.2 Whilst the shopping role of the City is of prime importance, the Centre contains a complex variety of activities and it is this variety which is one of the City's great assets. The City Centre is the economic heart of the District providing in a highly accessible compact area a wide range of services and jobs for the District. It has traditionally been a major centre of public administration and though abolition of the West Yorkshire County Council has affected this role to some degree, it remains very important. In the private sector of the office market, this city has played a secondary role in the region. The City Centre does have distinct advantages in terms of cost and accessibility and it is clear that there is potential for further growth with its attendant employment benefits. | |||
| 7.2.3 The City Centre as defined by the Inset Map has an important housing role which the Plan seeks to safeguard and enhance where this is practicable. As with many comparable cities, Wakefield has experienced a considerable decline in the numbers of people resident in the City Centre, most notably in the core area. The Council takes the view that it is desirable that this decline should be arrested and if possible, reversed and the Plan sets out its approach to this issue. | |||
| 7.2.4 Cultural and leisure activities for many people in the District are concentrated in central Wakefield. The City Centre contains the Theatre Royal and Opera House, the City Museum and Art Gallery, the Elizabethan Gallery and the Central Library, whilst the Cathedral and District College also contribute to cultural life. Marsh Way Sports Centre and the Light Waves Leisure Pool exemplify the City Centre's leisure role along with a wide variety of smaller scale private sports facilities, restaurants, public houses and discotheques. | |||
| 7.2.5 Major institutional and public sector uses include the Council's headquarters, the West Yorkshire Police Headquarters, Clayton Hospital, the District College, the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and Wakefield Girls School. | |||
| 7.2.6 The foregoing illustrates the variety of roles which the City Centre performs in the life of the wider community. The level of activity and prosperity of the City Centre is closely bound up with the fortunes of the City as a whole and the surrounding communities. A vigorous City Centre is vital to the quality of life of the wider community. As the major focus of activity, any deterioration in the City Centre's role and attraction is likely to have an adverse effect on that community and may set off a spiral of decline. Conversely, an attractive and thriving centre stimulates confidence in the community and provides a platform for further growth and success. | |||
| City Centre Management | |||
| 7.2.7 In close collaboration with other interested groups and bodies from the public, private and voluntary sector a City Centre Partnership was established in 1996. The Partnership is served by a City Centre Manager with support staff based in City Centre premises who are working to address its Business Plan. This seeks to enhance the vitality and viability of the centre through city centre management. | |||
| 7.3 THE PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE PLAN | |||
| 7.3.1 Maintaining and enhancing the range of activities in the City Centre is a major aim of the Council. The aim is a City Centre which is economically buoyant; pays close respect to its own history; is easy to get to; is a pleasant and safe place in which to move around once there, and has the wide variety of activities and land uses which is the key characteristic of a major sub-regional centre. | |||
| 7.3.2 Whilst the broad aims of the Plan in respect of Wakefield City Centre are simple enough, their achievement is more difficult. Although they are inter-related and in many respects complementary, they may also at times be in conflict. A key task of the Plan is to resolve these conflicts and in so doing strike the right balance so that progress on any one aim does not unduly compromise others. In recognising the close relationships between enhancing accessibility, activity and character, the Plan has to ensure that progress made on each leads to a greater whole. | |||
| 7.3.3 The City Centre should meet the needs of all the people of Wakefield. Market forces often favour the more affluent and powerful groups in society, sometimes at the expense of the disadvantaged. This is particularly true in city centres where commercial pressures are strongest. The Plan aims, therefore, to strike an appropriate balance and where necessary to positively assist those groups most in need of such assistance. There are a number of broad ways in which such an approach will be pursued: | |||
| - | Giving precedence as far as practicable to people on foot over people in cars in the City Centre. | ||
| - | Designing the City Centre to ensure that the elderly, the disabled and parents with young children can travel to it, move about there and make use of its attractions with equal safety and convenience. | ||
| - | By better orientating the City Centre to the needs of women who comprise the majority of its users either as shoppers or workers and seeking to make it a safer place for them to use. | ||
| - | By improving living conditions in and around the City Centre for residents and encouraging new housing opportunities there. | ||
| Land Use | |||
| 7.3.4 The strategy for the City Centre should seek a balance of land uses which reflect the Council's overall social and economic priorities and must recognise the development constraints which apply there. A market-led, development oriented strategy might in the short term maximise the employment potential of the City Centre. However, it would be unlikely to assist, except perhaps indirectly, in meeting wider social and environmental objectives. Such an approach, maximising commercial development opportunities, would raise development values and consequent pressure upon vacant sites in and around the City Centre. Further opportunities for housing in the City Centre would thus be unlikely. Most such sites are currently used for car parking whose loss on any significant scale would adversely affect the City's primary role as a sub regional shopping centre. | |||
| 7.3.5 The transport implications of adopting such a strategy would be almost certainly adverse with peak hour flows growing considerably over and above those anticipated from forecast natural growth. Accommodating such growth, whilst feasible, would have damaging environmental consequences. | |||
| 7.3.6 There are nevertheless some commercial development opportunities in the City Centre which can be grasped. What is essential is a balanced strategy which identifies those opportunities which can be pursued without unduly compromising the Centre's shopping role and which allows for a variety of land uses to flourish there. The current situation with no clear policy direction for the City Centre allows unrealistic hope values to stifle such variety. In particular there needs to be a firm commitment of sites for residential use if reintroduction of housing to the City Centre is to become a realistic prospect. | |||
| 7.3.7 Whilst the Plan will make provision for significant changes in the City Centre its keynote must nevertheless be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The Plan should constantly be seeking to make the best of the existing features of the City Centre. In many areas no major changes in character will be likely over the plan period. Design Priority Area policies will seek to ensure that the steady processes of change and development in these areas are directed towards enhancement of their character. | |||
| Transport | |||
| 7.3.8 The key principle here is that the City's transport system is a means to an end and should fit with and serve the sort of City Centre which the community wishes to develop. This is not to say however, that planning policies for the City Centre should not pay careful heed to their transport implications. | |||
| 7.3.9 In the heart of the City Centre pedestrians will be given greater priority than other road users and public transport will be given priority over the use of private cars. The aim will be to remove from the City Centre core as much through traffic as possible and to create there a compact pedestrian oriented urban form. | |||
| 7.3.10 Continued provision of adequate levels of car parking, especially short stay, is essential to Wakefield's competing successfully as a retail and commercial centre. | |||
| 7.3.11 Any new road construction designed to remove through traffic from the City core should not be on a scale which significantly damages the fabric and character of the City Centre. | |||
| The Local Authority's Role | |||
| 7.3.12 Much of what happens in the City Centre is governed by social, economic and political forces over which the Council has little control. Nevertheless it remains the case that the Council can and should be a major initiator and co-ordinator of change there. This can almost certainly only be achieved by working in partnership with the private sector. However, if partnership is to be worthwhile from the point of view of the community it must be based upon clear social and economic objectives which move away from mere commercial opportunism towards developments which satisfy a broader set of criteria. Financial feasibility will nevertheless always be essential. | |||
| 7.4 KEY OBJECTIVES | |||
| 7.4.1 Arising from these general principles, the Council has adopted the following key objectives which set the framework for City Centre policies: | |||
| 1. | To maintain and enhance the range of activities in the City Centre. | ||
| 2. | To resolve conflicts between those activities and strike a balance, such that progress on any one of them does not undermine progress on others. | ||
| 3. | To capitalise on the City's `flagship' role within the District in so far as this is consistent with the wider objectives for the centre. | ||
| 4. | To maintain and enhance the City Centre's primary role as a sub-regional shopping centre. | ||
| 5. | To protect and further develop the service role of the City Centre in ways which avoid bringing about an unacceptable state of congestion or unduly compromise the existing functions of the Centre. | ||
| 6. | To protect and enhance the residential environment in and around the City Centre and to reintroduce, where possible, housing into the heart of the City. | ||
| 7. | To remove as far as possible all extraneous traffic from the City's inner core and within that area priority should increasingly be given to pedestrians. | ||
| 8. | To vigorously promote the role of public transport in the City's transport system and to allow it priority over other road users in the City's inner area. | ||
| 9. | To seek in all development in the City Centre the highest standards of design so as to ensure that the environment of the City Centre is enhanced. | ||
| 7.5 AREA POLICIES AND PROPOSALS | |||
| 7.5.1 For the purposes of devising specific policies the City Centre Inset Map area has been split into two areas broadly differing in character and function. Within the Inner Area (defined on the City Centre Inset Map) the Council will seek to promote pedestrian priority, restricting vehicular penetration and to encourage generally a tight knit compact urban form. Within this Inner Area land use patterns are more diverse and fine-grained. | |||
| 7.5.2 Inevitably, any boundary drawn within the City Centre is bound to be somewhat arbitrary. However, in the Outer Areas, which are those areas beyond the Inner Area but within the City Centre Inset Map boundary, a higher degree of vehicular penetration is acceptable, development is less tight knit and land use patterns are generally less diverse. | |||
| 7.5.3 Within both Inner and Outer areas Key Development Sites and wider Key Development Areas have been defined. In these areas significant development opportunities and/or land use changes are foreseen during the Plan period. Consequently further detailed planning guidance and briefs relating to them will be produced supplementary to the Plan. Broad policy guidance relating to these sites and areas is contained in Section 7.8. The policies set out in the following section on the Outer Areas do not therefore cover Key Development Sites or Key Development Areas unless otherwise specified. | |||
| 7.6 OUTER AREAS: HOUSING | |||
| 7.6.1 Much the greater part of housing within the City Centre Inset Map area lies in a broad nearly continuous swathe surrounding the Inner Area on its north and east with a smaller pocket south of the City. The areas of existing housing are shown on the City Centre Inset Map. Within the City Centre Inset Map area the resident population at the 1991 Census was 4,700. Of this population, just over 3,900 were estimated to be resident in the Outer Area, the balance of some 800 persons being resident in the Inner Area. These figures, though now out-dated, serve to show the broad balance of population and housing distribution within the City Centre Inset Map area. The statement and policies in this section of the Plan relate to the Outer Areas of the City Centre. Section 7.8 provides policy guidance on the Inner Areas of the Inset Map. | |||
| 7.6.2 The policies which provide broad guidance on existing housing throughout the District are set out in Vol.1 of the Plan as H10, H11 and H13. | |||
| 7.6.3 The Council attaches great importance to the housing function of areas around the City Centre and is keen to secure further improvements to living conditions and to maintain and enhance the quality of life in these areas. Living in or near to the City Centre gives easy access to a wide range of shopping, social and entertainment facilities and is especially attractive to single people and couples. It also provides a pool of relatively cheap housing. The potential for Renewal Areas in the outer areas of the City Centre is being assessed. | |||
| WCC 1 | WITHIN THE EXISTING HOUSING AREAS IDENTIFIED IN THE OUTER AREAS OF THE CITY CENTRE INSET MAP THE COUNCIL WILL SEEK TO PROTECT THE RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT AND WILL, WHEREVER RESOURCES AND POWERS PERMIT, ACTIVELY SEEK TO IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS THERE. DEVELOPMENT IN OR ADJACENT TO THESE AREAS WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED IF CONSISTENT WITH THESE OBJECTIVES. | ||
| WCC 2 | THE COUNCIL WILL INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBILITY OF DESIGNATING PARTS OF THE OUTER AREA OF THE CITY CENTRE INSET MAP AREA AS RENEWAL AREAS UNDER THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING ACT 1989. | ||
| 7.6.4 The Council is keen to continue the process of improvement to the housing stock and to environmental conditions in these areas of the City. The scope for new housing provision in this area is restricted and is likely to remain so. Therefore the existing stock will continue to have an important role to play in the life of the City. | |||
| WCC 3 | SUPPORT WILL NORMALLY BE GIVEN TO SCHEMES FOR NEW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE OUTER AREAS OF THE CITY CENTRE AND TO CHANGES OF USE OF EXISTING BUILDINGS TO RESIDENTIAL USE THERE PROVIDED THAT: | ||
| i) | ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE APPROPRIATE TO RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT; | ||
| ii) | ADEQUATE CAR PARKING IS PROVIDED WITHIN THE SCHEME; | ||
| iii) | ADEQUATE AMENITIES ARE AVAILABLE TO THE SCHEME'S OCCUPIERS. | ||
| 7.6.5 Although opportunities for new housing will be limited, the Council will generally be supportive of such opportunities as they arise. It will normally expect such provision to be oriented towards small non-family households. A substantial proportion of any new accommodation is likely to be for rental. It is essential that new housing in the City Centre affords good living conditions. Design standards must be high minimising external environmental problems such as noise and maximising amenity provision. | |||
| WCC 4 | THE EXISTING HOUSING STOCK IDENTIFIED IN THE OUTER AREAS OF THE CITY CENTRE INSET MAP WILL AS FAR AS PRACTICABLE BE RETAINED AND THERE WILL BE A GENERAL PRESUMPTION AGAINST CHANGE OF USE TO NON-RESIDENTIAL USES EXCEPT WHERE: | ||
| i) | ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE SUCH AS TO RENDER CONTINUED RESIDENTIAL USE INAPPROPRIATE OR | ||
| ii) | CHANGE FROM RESIDENTIAL USE WOULD ALLOW THE CREATION OF VALUABLE COMMUNITY FACILITIES COMPATIBLE WITH THE MAIN HOUSING FUNCTION OF THE AREA. | ||
| 7.6.6 The Council intends that the primary housing role of these areas will be protected. It is recognised that notwithstanding this general presumption in favour of residential use and the Council's efforts to improve environmental conditions, there may be very limited instances where change from residential use may have to be accepted. | |||
| 7.6.7 The foregoing policies on housing in the Outer Areas of Wakefield City Centre should be read in conjunction with Policies WCC 9 & WCC 10 which relate specifically to housing in the Inner Areas of the City Centre. | |||
| 7.7 OUTER AREAS: INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS | |||
| Offices | |||
| 7.7.1 The principal focus for office development in the Inset Map area is likely to continue to be the Inner Area of the City and the Key Development Areas and Sites identified in Section 8. Planning policy for office development in these areas is therefore provided by the Inner Areas section of the Inset Map taken together with Policies I3 covering B1 (Business Uses) location and I4 relating to A2 type office location. | |||
| WCC 5 | IN THOSE PARTS OF THE OUTER AREAS NOT DESIGNATED AS KEY DEVELOPMENT AREAS OR SITES IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE EXISTING OFFICE USES WILL CONTINUE AS AT PRESENT. SMALL SCALE EXTENSIONS AND REDEVELOPMENT OF SUCH USES WILL GENERALLY BE ACCEPTABLE WHERE IT CAN BE SHOWN THAT THERE WILL BE NO ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRAFFIC CONSEQUENCES. HOWEVER, THE COUNCIL WILL GENERALLY EXPECT DEMANDS FOR SUBSTANTIAL NEW OFFICE FLOORSPACE TO BE MET IN KEY DEVELOPMENT AREAS AND SITES. | ||
| Industry and Commerce | |||
| 7.7.2 The Outer Areas of the City Centre play a significant role in offering small businesses the advantage of a fairly central location, a wide variety of sites and buildings, usually at a reasonable cost, easy access to customers and markets and ease of access to their workers. | |||
| 7.7.3 The majority of such uses lie within Key Development Areas. In those parts of the Outer Area not covered by such designation the Council will generally support the continuation of such uses as at present. However, it will only support major extension of such uses in these areas and renewal of business and industrial uses where there are no adverse environmental and traffic effects on neighbouring residential and community and leisure facilities. | |||
| WCC 6 | THE COUNCIL WILL GENERALLY SUPPORT THE CONTINUATION, RENEWAL AND SMALL SCALE EXTENSION OF EXISTING INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS USES IN THE OUTER AREAS OF THE CITY CENTRE DESIGNATED ON THE INSET MAP PROVIDED THAT: | ||
| i) | THERE ARE NO ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL OR SAFETY CONSEQUENCES ARISING FROM SUCH USE OR DEVELOPMENT WHICH WOULD AFFECT NEIGHBOURING AREAS, AND | ||
| ii) | THERE ARE NO ADVERSE TRAFFIC CONSEQUENCES WHICH WOULD AFFECT NEARBY RESIDENTIAL AREAS IN TERMS OF INCREASED TRAFFIC MOVEMENTS AND PARKING DEMANDS. | ||
| WHERE REDEVELOPMENT OR EXTENSION TO SUCH USES ARISES THE COUNCIL WILL EXPECT SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS TO ARISE. | |||
| 7.7.4 There is a need to maintain and, where possible, increase industrial and business job opportunities around the City Centre but in so doing the Council will seek to ensure that other objectives are not jeopardised, particularly the need to protect residential environment, and to enhance the character and appearance of the City Centre. | |||
| 7.7.5 Policies for Industry and Commerce within the City Centre Inset Map area should be read in conjunction with Policy NWS 3 which relates to the Westgate End/Calder Vale/Calder Vale Sewage Works Industrial Zone in Section 2 of this Volume. Parts of this Industrial Zone are contiguous with the Area for Business and Industrial Use designated to the south west of the City Centre in the Inset Map Area. | |||
| 7.8 INNER AREA | |||
| Transportation | |||
| 7.8.1 Within the City Centre Inset Map area the inner area forms the core of the City Centre where the Council sees a need to restrict vehicular penetration. Within this area the land use pattern will emphasise and be dominated by service uses, particularly retailing, requiring a high degree of personal contact. Consequently ease and convenience of pedestrian movement will be essential to the area's success and a policy to ensure pedestrian priority will need to be established. To achieve this goal it will be necessary to remove unnecessary through traffic movements from the centre and to restrict access to essential service traffic and public transport vehicles. To achieve this it will be necessary to provide a general access route within the fringes of the core area which would provide access to convenient car parking and facilitate service access to the inner area. | |||
| WCC 7 | THE COUNCIL WILL CREATE AN AREA OF PEDESTRIAN PRIORITY WITHIN THE CITY CENTRE AND WILL BE TAKING THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS TO REMOVE INTRUSIVE TRAFFIC MOVEMENTS AND TO FURTHER PEDESTRIAN PRIORITY ON SPECIFIC STREETS: | ||
| - | COMPLETION OF HIGHWAY WORKS TO PROVIDE IMPROVED LINKS TO THE NORTH WEST OF THE CITY CENTRE FROM WESTGATE TO BOND STREET IN ORDER TO CATER FOR THROUGH TRAFFIC AND INTRA CENTRE MOVEMENTS INVOLVING THIS PART OF THE CITY CENTRE | ||
| - | THE ELIMINATION OF ALL THROUGH AND EXTRANEOUS TRAFFIC, BAR PUBLIC TRANSPORT, FROM THE ROUTE ALONG BULL RING, MARYGATE, AND SILVER STREET TOGETHER WITH MEASURES TO IMPROVE THE PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT IN THIS AREA | ||
| - | THE CLOSURE OF WOOD STREET BETWEEN THE JUNCTIONS WITH BULLRING AND CROSS STREET TO ALL TRAFFIC DURING NORMAL WORKING HOURS | ||
| - | ANY ADDITIONAL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT MEASURES THAT THE COUNCIL CONSIDERS NECESSARY, FEASIBLE AND APPROPRIATE IN ORDER TO FURTHER THE OBJECTIVE OF CREATING PEDESTRIAN PRIORITY IN THE CORE AREA OF THE CITY CENTRE | ||
| - | THE PROVISION OF NEW AND ENHANCED PEDESTRIAN LINKS BETWEEN THE CITY CENTRE AND THE EDGE OF CENTRE RETAIL PARKS, THE WATERFRONT AREA AND ACROSS THE LINE OF MARSH WAY TO COLLEGE GROVE AND EASTMOOR | ||
| WCC 8 | THE COUNCIL WILL NOT EXPECT LONG STAY PRIVATE CAR PARKING FOR USES IN THE INNER AREA TO BE MET BY ON-SITE PROVISION. ALL NEW DEVELOPMENT WILL BE CONSIDERED ON ITS MERITS BUT PROPOSALS FOR INNER AREA USES WILL NOT BE PERMITTED IF THEY INCORPORATE CONSIDERABLE LONG STAY ON-SITE PRIVATE CAR PARKING PROVISION OR DIRECTLY GENERATES HEAVY TRAFFIC MOVEMENT TO THE PREMISES. | ||
| Housing | |||
| 7.8.2 There already exists a sizeable residential provision within the Inner Area. There is a concentration of local authority housing, including high rise blocks in the area to the immediate north of George Street bounding the main shopping core. The Council is aware of the importance of encouraging city centre residential accommodation both in terms of the vitality it provides for the city centre and in terms of the locational needs of specific groups of people. | |||
| WCC 9 | IT IS THE COUNCIL'S INTENTION TO SAFEGUARD AREAS OF EXISTING RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE INNER AREA AND TO GIVE PRIORITY TO PROPOSALS TO ENHANCE THEIR IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT. | ||
| WCC 10 | THE COUNCIL WILL ENCOURAGE THE PROVISION OF NEW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT THE INNER AREA, ESPECIALLY AT THE UPPER LEVELS OF NEW AND EXISTING DEVELOPMENTS. THE COUNCIL WILL TAKE AN UNDERSTANDING VIEW OF THE PARKING REQUIREMENTS GENERATED BY SUCH DEVELOPMENT. | ||
| Retailing | |||
| 7.8.3 Wakefield City Centre is the primary retailing centre within the District. It is over twice the size of any other shopping centre in the District and the only centre to approach the status of a sub-regional centre. Recent developments in centres outside of the District, edge of centre development and the establishment of out of town shopping centres within the region have created additional competition for Wakefield City Centre. The Council aims to ensure that it not only retains its position in the regional shopping hierarchy, but extends the range of shopping facilities to provide a fuller range of modern retail provision to Wakefield residents and develops its role as the focus of shopping activity. It acknowledges the need to review and improve the shopping environment in the centre and to strengthen the City’s retail offer to claw back some of the substantial spending lost to the competing attractions referred to above and to large free standing stores within its catchment. Wakefield City Centre now attracts only 7% of the food and grocery spending in the District. This figure shows a substantial decline over the last ten years. In comparison Pontefract Town Centre, which incorporates two major supermarkets, attracts 17% of the spending on food and grocery shopping in the District. | |||
| 7.8.4 The Council takes the view that new retail floorspace in the City Centre will be best located where it can assist the regeneration of an area at risk of decline without fresh investment. The Council has concluded that renewal and redevelopment to provide new retail attractions in the City Centre should be focused on the Bus Station and the Markets/Marsh Way area north and east of the Bull Ring. A scheme to provide a new Bus Station and a modest integral retail scheme on the site of the current Bus Station has gained planning permission and is progressing towards implementation. A major redevelopment opportunity now exists on land adjacent to the City’s open market. With the closure of the British Gas Depot north of Marsh Way a substantial area of land is now available to accommodate a large foodstore and other retail and leisure attractions including a Department Store. A Development Brief for the Marsh Way Commercial Sector has been approved. Key requirements, without which such a scheme would not be acceptable, are the resolution of the severance problems caused by Marsh Way and full integration of the development with the existing retail core of the City. Development there will be expected to accord fully with the requirements of the published brief. | |||
| 7.8.5 Accordingly, a Retail Policy Area has been defined so as to encourage and guide the extension of retailing in this area where the need and opportunity for new retail development coincide. It is recognised however, that market demand and commercial viability are essential prerequisites for any successful new retail development in the City Centre. Accordingly City Centre retail policies have been devised to provide the flexibility required for proposals on the margins of the retail policy area which cannot be accommodated within that area. Nevertheless a clear presumption in favour of proposals within that area will operate. | |||
| WCC 11 | THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADDITIONAL RETAIL FLOORSPACE WITHIN THE INNER AREA OF THE CITY WILL BE ENCOURAGED DURING THE PLAN PERIOD TO EXTEND AND ENHANCE THE CITY’S RETAIL ATTRACTIONS. ANY SUCH DEVELOPMENT NOT ACCOMMODATED IN TRADITIONAL SHOPPING FRONTAGES SHOULD TAKE PLACE TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE EXISTING RETAIL AREA, BUT WITHIN THE RETAIL POLICY AREA, IN THE BUS STATION AND MARKETS/MARSH WAY AREA. | ||
| WCC 12 | IN ACCORDANCE WITH POLICY S1 AN AREA IS DEFINED ON THE POLICY MAP WITHIN WHICH RETAIL DEVELOPMENT WILL BE PERMITTED AND ENCOURAGED. BEYOND THIS RETAIL POLICY AREA SIGNIFICANT REDEVELOPMENT FOR RETAIL PURPOSES WILL BE SUPPORTED ONLY WHERE IT CAN BE SHOWN THAT THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT COULD NOT BE ACCOMMODATED WITHIN THE RETAIL AREA AND WOULD NOT BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE VIABILITY OF THE CORE RETAIL AREA. | ||
| 7.8.6 Within the core retail area a division can be made between the prime frontages with the heaviest pedestrian movement where retailing is the predominant use and other areas where retailing is still the major frontage use but where there is a tradition of mixed frontage development. | |||
| 7.8.7 In recent years there has been in both areas considerable pressure on retail frontages created by non retail uses requiring space on the frontages where successful retail operations have attracted heavy pedestrian movement. It is recognised that in many instances such service uses add to the character and desirability of a shopping centre and their location in close proximity to major shopping uses is seen as desirable by shoppers. It is equally recognised that a profusion of non retail uses on given frontages can undermine the retail character of those frontages with consequent effect on the pedestrian movement in an area to the overall detriment of part of the centre. Policy S6, described in Volume 1 of the Plan is designed to ensure that changes of use within designated shopping frontages take place without undermining their shopping function. | |||
| WCC 13 | THE FOLLOWING SHOPPING FRONTAGES AS SHOWN ON THE CITY CENTRE INSET MAP SHALL BE DEFINED AS PRIMARY SHOPPING FRONTAGES AND POLICY S6 SHALL APPLY WHEREIN ANY GROUND FLOOR NON-RETAIL USE SHALL BE RESTRICTED TO CLASSES A2 AND A3 OF THE USE CLASSES ORDER 1987: | ||
| - | THE RIDINGS CENTRE | ||
| - | WESTGATE: NOS 1-49 & 2-38 | ||
| - | MARYGATE: NOS 1 & 3 | ||
| - | BREAD STREET - BOTH SIDES | ||
| - | CROSS SQUARE - BOTH SIDES | ||
| - | BULL RING: NOS 1-23 | ||
| - | NORTHGATE: NOS 1-17 | ||
| - | KIRKGATE: NOS 2-104 & 1-71 | ||
| 7.8.8 There are a number of shops operating outside of the designated retail area. The Council expects these uses to continue during the Plan period and will view sympathetically proposals for the enhancement of individual units. Whilst under Policy S1 the Council will be opposed to an extension of retailing outside of the designated retail area it is recognised that there is scope for specialist small scale retailing to be provided as part of refurbishment measures especially to properties in Conservation Areas. There are instances where such developments can provide a catalyst for renewal which otherwise would not occur. | |||
| WCC 14 | NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF POLICY S1 THE COUNCIL WILL VIEW SYMPATHETICALLY PROPOSALS FOR THE RENOVATION AND RENEWAL OF BUILDINGS, ESPECIALLY IN CONSERVATION AREAS WHICH CONTAIN ELEMENTS OF RETAILING PROVIDED THAT: | ||
| - | THE PROPOSALS DO NOT MATERIALLY ALTER THE CHARACTER OF THE AREA | ||
| - | THE RETAIL ELEMENTS PROPOSED ARE OF A SMALL SCALE AND DO NOT INVOLVE SIGNIFICANT NEW CONSTRUCTION | ||
| - | THE RESULTANT SHOPPING FACILITIES WILL COMPLEMENT THOSE WITHIN THE DESIGNATED RETAIL AREA | ||
| - | THE PROPOSALS FORM PART OF A WIDER SCHEME FOR RENEWAL OF PROPERTIES WHICH WILL ENHANCE THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE IMMEDIATE AREA | ||
| 7.8.9 Over the past ten years the major change to retailing in Wakefield City Centre have been the substantial further development of Retail Warehouse parks, with adjacent car parking, along Ings Road. Whilst these have been very successful, it is now considered that there is no justification for provision for further retail warehousing floorspace in this part of the City Centre during the plan period. A priority now is to enhance the pedestrian links between these areas and the City’s retail core. | |||
| Key Development Sites | |||
| 7.8.10 In both inner and outer zones the Council recognises areas likely to come under pressure for redevelopment where detailed development guidance will need to be given. In addition there are specific key sites in significant locations which possess development opportunities which the Council would wish to see safeguarded. | |||
| WCC 17 | KEY DEVELOPMENT SITES ARE DEFINED ON THE CITY CENTRE INSET MAP WHERE THERE IS SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL FOR REGENERATION OR DEVELOPMENT. THE COUNCIL WILL WELCOME PROPOSALS FOR THESE AREAS WHICH ARE: | ||
| 1. | INGS ROAD/GEORGE STREET - AN AREA OCCUPIED AT PRESENT BY THE GRANADA BINGO HALL AND A MOTOR REPAIR/GARAGE COMPLEX. | ||
| 2. | MARSH WAY/BOROUGH ROAD - MUCH THE GREATER PART OF THIS SITE IS NOW VACANT, THE REMAINDER IS USED FOR A VARIETY OF SMALL SCALE COMMERCIAL USES. | ||
| 3. | MARSH WAY/NORTHGATE - THE BULK OF THIS SITE IS USED AS A MOTOR ACCESSORIES AND SERVICING COMPLEX TOGETHER WITH MIXED OFFICE AND RESIDENTIAL USES ON THE UPPER YORK STREET FRONTAGE. | ||
| 7.8.11 These sites are located in positions of prominence and are capable of accommodating free standing developments on a significant scale which could only be developed elsewhere in the City Centre area with great difficulty. The Plan remains flexible on the precise form and content of the development in order to attract developer interest as, to a large extent, any development proposed must depend upon market demand and commercial viability. The Council will consider such sites as suitable for office development, major leisure uses, residential or other free standing uses appropriate to the central area, with the exception of retailing. Any such redevelopment would be expected to provide for its own parking requirements within the site. | |||
| WCC 18 | THE COUNCIL WILL EXPECT ANY REDEVELOPMENT TO REFLECT THE PROMINENT LOCATION OF THE SITES IN TERMS OF THEIR NATURE, SCALE AND DESIGN. WHILST THE COUNCIL WILL SEEK TO PROMOTE SUCH SITES FOR REDEVELOPMENT AND SAFEGUARD THEM FROM INDISCRIMINATE REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS WHICH PREJUDICE THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES FOR THE SITE, THE COUNCIL RECOGNISES THAT: | ||
| A) | REFURBISHMENT PROPOSALS WITHIN THE AREA WILL BE CONSIDERED IF PART OF A COMPREHENSIVE SCHEME. | ||
| B) | REDEVELOPMENT OR REFURBISHMENT WILL BE CONSIDERED PROVIDED IT DOES NOT PREJUDICE OR JEOPARDISE OVERALL REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS. | ||
| C) | THE INCLUSION OF A PROPERTY WITHIN THE AREA DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS WILL BE MADE WHICH WILL AFFECT IT. | ||
| Key Development Areas | |||
| 7.8.12 The Council has identified a number of areas where pressure for change is likely to occur during the Plan period. There are a number of areas fringing the City Centre where traditional uses and activities have declined in importance or ceased entirely, often through lack of investment. These areas create development opportunities to bring new uses and activities to the City Centre allowing it to adapt to changing demands and enhancing its role in providing services. | |||
| 7.8.13 It is considered that partnership between the private sector and the Council will be essential in bringing forward such sites for development. The Council considers it unlikely that any such sites will be redeveloped in total or in one all embracing package, consequently it will be necessary to provide a development framework to ensure that any partial redevelopment of the site contributes to the infrastructure provision necessary to secure the satisfactory overall redevelopment of the wider Key Development Area. There will be a need for guidance in the form of regeneration briefs to cover these areas, although the non-production of a regeneration brief would not necessarily preclude an otherwise acceptable development. | |||
| WCC 19 | KEY DEVELOPMENT AREAS ARE DEFINED ON THE CITY CENTRE MAP AS FOLLOWS: | ||
| A) | THE BALNE LANE/BURTON STREET/WESTGATE AREA, CURRENTLY PART IN USE AS A DAIRY DEPOT AND PART VACANT FORMERLY USED AS A STORAGE AREA FOR NEW VEHICLES AWAITING SALE. | ||
| B) | AN AREA TO THE NORTH OF THE SPRINGS, WESTMORELAND STREET EAST OF NORTHGATE, BOUNDED TO THE NORTH BY JACOBS WELL LANE AND TO THE EAST BY A MIXED AREA OF RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL USES. THE AREA IS CURRENTLY OCCUPIED BY A WIDE VARIETY OF USES INCLUDING THE CITY’S MARKETS, THE BUS STATION, A MULTI STOREY CAR PARK, SURFACE CAR PARKS, PART OF THE FORMER BRITISH GAS DEPOT, SEVERAL RETAIL UNITS AND A VARIETY OF COMMERCIAL USES. | ||
| C) | AN AREA TO THE SOUTH OF THE CENTRE BOUNDED BY INGS ROAD, KIRKGATE AND GEORGE STREET CONTAINING A VARIETY OF USES INCLUDING INDUSTRIAL, RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL AND EMBRACING THE SOUTH PARADE CONSERVATION AREA. | ||
| 7.8.14 The Council will provide supplementary planning guidance in the form of regeneration briefs and design guidelines. The regeneration briefs will cover matters relating to infrastructure, acceptable land uses, on site requirements, design requirements and phasing of and constraints to development. Key elements to be included in each brief are outlined below. In each area the needs of existing uses, including requirements for expansion, will be taken into account subject to other policies in the Plan. The list is not exhaustive and other uses will be considered if they accord with other policies in the Plan. | |||
| (a) | Balne Lane/Burton Street/Westgate | ||
| This is one of the prime sites in the region capable of accommodating substantial employment generating and other city centre uses which will benefit from any proposal to upgrade, expand or replace facilities at the current Westgate Station. The site is well served by other public transport, and has considerable potential for a range of mixed development. Full integration with adjacent areas of the City Centre, notably the civic quarter and the Westgate area, will be a key requirement of any redevelopment. | |||
| (i) | The site is appropriate for a range of uses compatible with the city centre, particularly those where rail travel could be a great benefit such as offices. Other uses including residential, leisure, hotel restaurants and ancillary retail of an appropriate scale in the vicinity of the station may be acceptable. | ||
| Given that the surrounding area falls within the City Centre Design Priority Area and includes parts of both the Wood Street and Westgate Conservation areas, has a number of Listed Buildings within it and contains one of the main gateways to the City, the scale and quality of any development, as well as its design, materials used, public spaces and integration in the City Centre will be of paramount importance. | |||
| Development proposals for industrial, warehousing, large scale leisure, supermarket or retail warehousing, as well as proposals to develop the site for its historical railfreight use will not be appropriate because of the undesirability of encouraging industrial and commercial traffic through a City Centre setting. | |||
| (ii) | The immediate access to the site is poor and any development scheme will need to provide a financial contribution towards enhanced access to the wider Key Development Area, including improvements to Back Lane and Cliffe Lane. This will be secured by means of S106 agreements and, if appropriate, S278 (Highways Act) agreements. | ||
| (iii) | The area already contributes to the City Centre’s existing parking needs. The proposals should not reduce the availability of public city centre car parking. The car parking needs of other development proposals in this area will be considered in conjunction with the new station development. | ||
| (iv) | A detailed Development Brief and Urban Design Guide will be prepared for this site to assist in the creation of appropriate development. | ||
| (b) | The Bus Station/Market/Marsh Way | ||
| (i) | This is seen as the area to accommodate significant new initiatives to enhance the vitality and viability of the City Centre including new retail development during the plan period. Such uses should be located on the site of the present bus station and, in the Market/Marsh Way area, on the land alongside the open market closest to the City’s retail core. | ||
| (ii) | Retail development in each of these sub areas must integrate fully with the City Centre. In the bus station area retail development should provide the link between a new bus station and the City Centre. Improved links should also to be provided with the markets area. Likewise new retail (and other) development in the Markets/Marsh Way area must provide improved links across to the market and bus station, to the adjacent retail core and to surrounding housing. Development requirements for this part of the area are set out in the Council’s Marsh Way Commercial Sector Development brief. Development proposals in this area should take account of the requirements of the Health and Safety Executive with regard to the high pressure gas storage installation. | ||
| (iii) | The Elizabethan Gallery and the area around it should be considered for environmental enhancement and the best appropriate integration into adjacent development schemes. A bus station and covered open market should be retained as essential elements in the area though not necessarily on their present sites. | ||
| (iv) | Notwithstanding the major public transport improvement sought via a new bus station, adequate provision and improved management of off street parking for city centre shoppers will be necessary. | ||
| (v) | The area is also considered suitable for both office and residential development especially on upper floors. | ||
| (c) | George Street/Ings Road Area | ||
| (i) | It is not envisaged that this area would be heavily redeveloped. Much of the existing area including the George Street frontage and the South Parade Conservation Area would need to be the subject of enhancement policies and will require design guidance. | ||
| (ii) | Likewise, the residential role within the area should be recognised and opportunity taken to extend the range of residential development within the area and to enhance conditions in existing residential areas. | ||
| (iii) | Improved pedestrian routes will be required throughout the area including linking existing and proposed green spaces. | ||
| (iv) | Commercial development could be considered where related to the George Street and Kirkgate frontages. | ||
| (v) | The former Eagle Brewery site and its immediate surrounds should be considered as one site. Commercial, residential or industrial/warehousing uses are seen as having potential on this site but not retailing. | ||
| 7.9 Supplementary Planning Guidance | |||
| 7.9.1 Within the Inner Zone the Council recognises three areas which will require specific planning policies to ensure that development reflects and enhances the existing character of those areas. These are located in the vicinity of Cheapside and King Street, Westgate and Marygate and in the area to the immediate south of Westgate. It is the Council's intention that development in these areas be controlled by a mixture of Supplementary Planning Guidance and specific design advice encompassed within Design Priority Area statements. | |||
| CHEAPSIDE | |||
| 7.9.2 The Cheapside area is one of mixed uses, many in converted residential properties accessed from traditional roads and alleyways running onto Westgate which gives the area its particular character. This character is under threat from pressures for redevelopment on a larger scale and from intrusive vehicular movements and car parking within the area. The Council's objective is to renew this area in a manner which would retain and enhance the traditional route pattern and be in scale with the existing buildings. | |||
| WCC 20 | THE COUNCIL WILL PREPARE SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE FOR THIS AREA WHICH WILL INCLUDE THE PROVISION OF DESIGN GUIDANCE. THE GUIDANCE WILL COVER THE FOLLOWING TOPICS: | ||
| - | A LAND USE POLICY TO REFLECT THE MIXED USE CHARACTER OF THE AREA WHICH SHOULD NOT BE PARTICULARLY RESTRICTIVE. THE PRIMARY CONSTRAINTS TO ANY DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE SIZE AND CHARACTER IMPLEMENTED THROUGH A DESIGN POLICY. | ||
| - | A NEED TO IMPROVE AND ENHANCE EAST-WEST PEDESTRIAN LINKS THROUGH THE AREA. | ||
| - | A STRICT CONTROL OF VEHICULAR PENETRATION TOGETHER WITH POLICIES DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE INTRUSIVE NATURE OF MUCH OF THE PARKING WITHIN THE AREA. | ||
| WESTGATE/MARYGATE | |||
| 7.9.3 The Westgate/Marygate corridor provides the major approach to the City Centre from the west. A number of listed buildings front the street and the whole frontage is within the Conservation Area. There is a need to ensure that the linear approach along Westgate is retained both in respect of visual matters and in order to provide an effective pedestrian route between the Westgate Railway Station and the City Centre. | |||
| WCC 21 | THE COUNCIL WILL PREPARE SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE FOR THIS AREA TO ASSIST IN DEVELOPMENT AND REDEVELOPMENT WHICH WILL INCLUDE A DESIGN POLICY FOR BOTH FRONTAGE DEVELOPMENT AND THE YARDS REACHING ONTO WESTGATE. SUCH A POLICY WILL COVER GUIDANCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL OF VACANT SITES TO THE WEST OF SMYTH STREET AND DRURY LANE. | ||
| MARKET STREET/SMYTHE STREET AREA | |||
| 7.9.4 This is an area of generally mixed uses, many being of relatively low value activities needing to locate in the City Centre but unable to pay the rental values which apply in the heart of the centre. These uses and activities which are of a mixed nature provide a useful employment base, especially for blue collar workers and form an integral part of the overall fabric of the City Centre including providing facilities for small independent businesses to thrive. It is Council policy that whenever possible existing small businesses will be allowed to continue. The Council does not see the need for there to be any significant change in the character and nature of this area, Council planning policies for this area will favour developments which retain the mixed use characteristics and oppose any development likely to significantly upset the character or service road pattern of the area or introduce any increased vehicular penetration. | |||
| 7.10 ENVIRONMENT | |||
| 7.10.1 Section 3.5 to 3.7 and 10.5 of Volume 2 contain a range of policies related to the protection or improvement of the environment. Whilst the Inset Map area contains within it some areas of poor environmental quality the City Centre has a wealth of fine buildings distributed throughout a number of Conservation Areas. | |||
| Archaeological Sites | |||
| 7.10.2 Section 3.6 of Volume 2 contains the policies, explanation and interpretive material relating to buildings and Sites of Archaeological Interest. These are related to Wakefield City Centre Area as follows: | |||
| POLICIES E13, E14, E15, E17, E18 AND E19 SHALL APPLY TO THE FOLLOWING AREAS LOCATED ON THE PROPOSALS MAP AS CLASS I AND CLASS II SITES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL VALUE, REGISTERED ON THE COUNTY SITES AND MONUMENTS RECORD: | |||
| WCC 23 | CLASS II ST. JOHNS CHURCH AND GROUNDS, WAKEFIELD | ||
| WCC 24 | CLASS II WAKEFIELD CATHEDRAL AND GROUNDS, WAKEFIELD | ||
| WCC 36 | CLASS I WAKEFIELD BRIDGE, SOUTH END OF KIRKGATE | ||
| WCC 37 | CLASS II FALL INGS LOCK, DONCASTER ROAD, WAKEFIELD | ||
| Conservation Areas | |||
| 7.10.3 The policies which will be applied to all designated Conservation Areas in the Inset Map Area are given in Section 3.6 of Volume 2. | |||
| POLICIES E27 TO E35 SHALL APPLY IN THE FOLLOWING EXISTING CONSERVATION AREAS AS SHOWN ON THE PROPOSALS MAP: | |||
| WCC 25 | ST. JOHN'S CONSERVATION AREA | ||
| WCC 26 | WENTWORTH TERRACE CONSERVATION AREA | ||
| WCC 27 | WOOD STREET CONSERVATION AREA | ||
| WCC 28 | CATHEDRAL CONSERVATION AREA | ||
| WCC 29 | SOUTH PARADE CONSERVATION AREA | ||
| WCC 30 | UPPER WESTGATE CONSERVATION AREA | ||
| WCC 31 | LOWER WESTGATE CONSERVATION AREA | ||
| WCC 33 | WAKEFIELD WATERFRONT CONSERVATION AREA | ||
| Design Priority Area | |||
| 7.10.4 A key objective of the Plan is to seek environmental enhancement of the City Centre through the highest standards of urban design. Whilst good design is a worthwhile objective in itself, it is also seen as a significant factor in contributing to the City's future prosperity. Accordingly a Design Priority Area has been designated in the City Centre which identifies that part of the City where extra attention will be given to the quality of design of development proposals. The Council's policies for Design Priority Areas are set out in Volume 1 as E36, E37 and E38. | |||
| 7.11 SPECIAL POLICY AREAS | |||
| Introduction | |||
| 7.11.1 Certain areas in the Plan are likely to see a cessation of current uses during the Plan period. They are considered suitable for more than one use and warrant the preparation of Supplementary Planning Guidance. | |||
| THE SITE OF CLAYTON HOSPITAL AS SHOWN ON THE CITY CENTRE INSET MAP IS DESIGNATED AS A SPECIAL POLICY AREA: | |||
| WCC 32 | CLAYTON HOSPITAL | ||
| 7.11.2 It is likely that the current use of this site will change during the Plan period. This is a substantial and prominent site in an extremely attractive part of the city. It is within the St Johns Conservation Area and adjoins the Wentworth Terrace Conservation Area. Only comprehensive schemes covering the entire site which retain as far as possible the best of the existing buildings and provide for a careful mix of appropriate uses will be acceptable to the Planning Authority. Institutional, educational, residential and commercial uses would be likely to be considered appropriate, although this is unlikely to include retail in accordance with PPG6. A sensitive approach to design will be essential to take full account of the character of the surrounding areas. | |||
| AN AREA BOUNDED BY KIRKGATE, SUN LANE AND MARSH WAY SHOWN ON THE CITY CENTRE INSET MAP IS DESIGNATED AS A SPECIAL POLICY AREA: | |||
| WCC 34 | KIRKGATE/SUN LANE (1.12 HECTARES/2.7 ACRES) |
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| 7.11.3 This prominent site forms a key gateway to the City Centre from the south. It is on the margin of the retail core and has seen significant change recently with the closure of the cinema, a key anchor element in the block. It is likely that pressure for change in this area will continue during the plan period. The site offers significant redevelopment possibilities for mixed use schemes incorporating retail, leisure and residential. The Kirkgate frontage, though not classed as a prime frontage, is still close enough to the retail core of the City to justify retail uses, subject to their commercial viability. To the rear and above, residential development aimed at young people, couples and students and including an element of social housing would be welcomed. Residential development though, must take account of potential noise and air quality problems. Leisure uses would be acceptable in principle, subject to their not being incompatible with existing housing on Sun Lane and the flats on the western side of Kirkgate, or to compromising the prospects of new housing uses. The Council will provide more detailed guidance in the form of a regeneration brief to cover the area. Development will be progressed in accordance with Government guidance. | |||
| THE WAKEFIELD WATERFRONT AREA SHOWN ON THE CITY CENTRE INSET MAP IS DESIGNATED AS A SPECIAL POLICY AREA: | |||
| WCC 35 | WAKEFIELD WATERFRONT (30.56 HECTARES/75.5 ACRES) |
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| 7.11.4 The Wakefield Waterfront Area is being promoted as a “new quarter” for the City and has been identified to have significant regeneration potential for mixed use, capitalising on its “waterfront” location alongside the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The area has been substantially designated as a Conservation Area. The key objective is to re-unite the community with the waterfront creating a new and fashionable “quarter” of the City. A high standard of design will be essential to all development work, refurbishments and environmental improvements. The Council has adopted design principles in a Waterfront Design Guide which set the standards sought. There is a need to improve the highway environment of the junction of the A61 and A638. Development proposals in this area should take account of the requirements of the Health and Safety Executive with regard to the nearby chemical works. Development will be progressed in accordance with Government guidance. | |||
| (a) | The Waterfront “Core” Area | ||
| The uses which could be accommodated through refurbished Listed mill buildings and new development on that part of the area west of the A61 and north of Wakefield Lock (including the area between the A61 and A638 north of the canal) have been confirmed in a commercial feasibility study. They include: leisure and tourism, including a visitor centre and major new waterfront art gallery; employment uses, with business space for offices, high-tech and cultural industries; specialist retail, with a mix of restaurants, cafes and bars; a hotel catering for leisure and business; and residential accommodation. The demand for leisure and specialist retail uses would thus come into being as a consequence of the new character of the area and these uses would not be suited to a location in the retail policy area or edge of centre generally. | |||
| (b) | Area South Of Wakefield Lock | ||
| South of Wakefield lock to Belle Isle, the area will primarily be suitable for residential development but could include business uses. Commercial / leisure development would be most appropriate closer to the lockside. | |||
| A Partnership Trust is driving the implementation of the vision for the areas a) and b), in consultation with land and property owners and other interests. In addition the Council has an adopted development brief for the area. | |||
| The objective therefore is to make provision for uses directly associated with the canal environment which would not be attracted to the retail policy area. | |||
| (c) | The ‘Skillcentre’ Site | ||
| To the east of the A638, the ‘skillcentre’ site (substantially the area between the River Calder and the Fall Ings Cut) is also part of the Conservation Area and has the benefit of planning permission for mixed use primarily including offices, residential, light industrial, leisure (public house/bar/restaurant). A high degree of public access and circulation is an essential element to the masterplanning of the whole special policy area. | |||
| d) | Other areas within the Special Policy Area | ||
| In the following areas a more flexible policy regime will help to facilitate complementary regeneration and better linkage to the City but favoured uses will be in accordance with advice given in PPG6: | |||
| (i) | The Thornes Lane Wharf / Thornes Lane bank of the River Calder. | ||
| (ii) | The areas north of Chantry Bridge including Kirkgate Station. | ||
| (iii) | Stennard Island and the disused Aire and Calder Navigation Cut. | ||
| (iv) | Areas surrounding and adjacent to Fall Ings Lock and Basins. | ||
| (v) | Areas occupied by commercial premises, south of Fall Ings Cut and alongside Doncaster Road. | ||
| The Waterfront Core area (a) and the Skillcentre site (b) are both amongst the Wakefield Strategic Sites portfolio which has attracted ERDF Objective 2 funding. Development progress of all the Strategic Sites portfolio is overseen by the Wakefield Strategic Sites Partnership. | |||
| Land use change within (a) The Waterfront Core Area, may stimulate proposals within the areas covered in (d) above. Should this occur, then, subject to detailed planning considerations, mixed use proposals, especially those which would generate new quality employment will be considered on their merits. However, they will generally exclude new retail uses, and will be subject to the design and environmental controls referred to above. The area along the bank of the River Calder referred to in (i), is the subject of proposals by the Environment Agency to undertake flood works. These works should be complementary to the regeneration of the area and comply with the Waterfront Design Guide and Conservation Area requirements. They will provide a “promenade” public walkway along the Thornes water frontage. In other areas within the SPA, the Environment Agency’s proposals will also need to comply with these design requirements. Development will be progressed in accordance with Government guidance. | |||
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