CABE Urban Panel Advice - do not pour money into the roundabout

Remember way back in June 2009 when we posted the CABE Margate Urban Panel Review Document from their March 2009 visit?

http://margatearchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/06/margate-urban-panel-review-2009.html

Here is the whole Word document for download and to print off:

Link to download the PDF file on CABE's site here.

Having a further peruse of the detail of the review, now reveals advice that is extremely pertinent to the public realm consultation along the seafront, roundabout and Arlington House, and adds weight to the argument that limited resources could be better applied to other areas within the town.

In particular we note:

3.2 The Georgian town built on the hill fields beyond the High Street put Margate at the forefront ofEnglish seaside development for a while and, had Cecil Square and the Assembly Rooms survived intact, the image of the town might well be different today. What is left is poignant proof that good intentions can lead to disappointing outcomes. Staff were keen to point out that Cecil Square remains a viable municipal centre with many of the facilities the town needs still available there. This is true and important, but a high price has been paid to achieve it. Within the governance and local politics ofThanet, it is great for Margate that the civic offices are located in Cecil Square along with the library, Post Office and so on. However, the building that houses them is so out of scale and overbearing as to drive the image of the rest of the square from the mind. What is more, the square has suffered as badly as almost any from the non-negotiable demands of the highway engineer. The Panel’s comments on this can be found at (7.1) below, but it will be no surprise that the repair of thepublic realm here is strongly recommended. Hawley Square, with a good green space and the elegant Theatre Royal, along with Trinity Square with its sadly much expanded but still well managed green space, are examples of the value which Georgian planning brings to today’s town and Cecil Square should rejoin them.

7.1 One area where the Panel saw the opportunity for trimming the sails was in the public realm proposals. While the Panel is a strong proponent of the quality of the public realm generally, it was concerned that the enormous areas potentially involved could resulteither in loss of focus, or in huge costs which would not deliver sufficient returns. So for, example, the Panel much admired the benefit which has been derived from the relatively small and affordable areas of public realmwork in and around the Old Town – particularly the new piazza facing the harbour. It did not believe that the same effect could be achieved by pouring large sums of money into the roundabout by the station or into some hundred yards of the front. Rather members felt that there-creation of Cecil Square as a pedestrian dominated space of quality would offer a far better return for residents and visitors alike. Engineer led schemes of the sort defacing the square are often up for renewal for engineering reasons and now would be the time to ensure that the preparation work has all been done, the vision of another Georgian square of quality being returned to the public has been promulgated and political drive is behind a great transformation.

8.0 Another aspect of management of the public realm is connectivity. It was suggested to the Panel that the development history of Margate combined with its topography had somehow made a place which wasdifficult to comprehend and navigate and where there were critical disconnections which had to be overcome. The Panel did not accept the analysis and thought that the emphasis on connectivity in the masterplan was overdone. In many ways Margate is easier to understandthan other seaside towns. Few others, if any, can boast a view of the sands from the main entrance of an attractivestation Once the short walk which that view inspires has been undertaken (and the Panel accepted the case for some improvement of the pedestrian route past Buenos Ayres) then the Harbour, the Droit House and the emerging Turner Contemporary will be obvious. The Panel thought there was strong case for the Droit House to contain orientation displays and probably for some investment in modern, map carrying fingerposts. Both ofthese should then direct visitors to the attractive small inter-connecting routes which are one of the pleasures of the town, which should be more widely shared.

10.2 Servicing such an economy could have a number of very positive outcomes. Boarding houses could once more function for their original purpose, providing opportunities for self-employed operators and entrepreneurs to establish high quality businesses and provide local employment. Modern guests expect high quality local cooking and the Isle of Thanet is a great place for local sourcing. The very significant skills required to achieve such an aim could be the focus of new further education provision in the town (such as a catering college linked to a training hotel), and the new‘5 star’ boarding houses could both help build the market for and complement new high grade hotels (much better to wait for this moment than fall for a budget hotel in the short term).

Urban Panel report

Friday's Isle of Thanet Gazette carried an interesting article on the English Heritage Urban Panel visit to Margate and subsequent report.

The Gazette reports that Chris Smith, the panel co-ordinator stated:
"The Georgian town built on the hill fields beyond the High Street puts Margate at the forefront of English seaside development and had Cecil Square and The Assembly Rooms survived intact, the image of the town today might well be different today.

The building that houses Thanet Council is so out of scale and over bearing as to drive the image of the rest of Cecil Square from the mind. The square has suffered badly from the non-negotiable demands of the highway engineer. Members felt that the re-creation of Cecil Square as a pedestrian dominated space of quality would offer a far better return for residents and visitors alike."

I couldn't agree more. Last week I went on a historic guided tour of Margate with the Margate Civic Society. It was really enjoyable and I'd recommend it. It was so interesting to get a new view of places and details that I pass in everyday life. One of the stops was on Cecil Square. Old photographs were passed around that showed a Thornton Bobby department store with wonderful ronate ironwork to the facade next door to the Natwest Building and that corner was an intact terrace of fine houses down to street level. There was no delivery arch into the corner, which I believe was put in later for M&S. It's so destructive the modifications that are made and then the businesses move on. Looking at the old pictures and then bothering to look up above the traffic it's clear the fabric of the beautiful square is still there. But that it is obliterated by the excessive widening of the road and the Council Offices and Court that tower over in extreme ugliness.

I remember someone telling me that the TDC building was built with no expense spared. Something about handmade bricks shipped in specially? I will have to do some research on this. If anyone has any pictures or knowledge of what was there before the ins and outs of the building of the current Council offices I'd be glad interested.

It isn't hard to imagine Cecil Square back to its former glory. If it was in any other european city it would be one of the main public squares of the town, fronted with shops, bars and cafes. Perhaps a weekly market. Instead it's a car park, duel carriageway and bustop with poor street furniture and inappropriate landscaping. It could be a welcoming place instead of a stressful environment.

It seems Margate officals were pleased with the panel's report in respect of Dreamland and the Turner Contemporary and Old Town. I need to research what plans are afoot for Cecil Square and also to track down the report. The Council is feeding back on the report on June 16th.