Rayleigh Town Centre Area Action Plan - Issues and Options
03Our Vision and Objectives
(2)3.1 Vision and Objectives
3.1.1 Our vision for Rayleigh Town Centre is:
"REVITALISING AN ATTRACTIVE AND HISTORIC MARKET TOWN: to strengthen Rayleigh’s role and function as the districts primary town centre, encouraging a diverse mix of retail, community, leisure and cultural facilities, creating a vibrant, attractive and welcoming centre for all, at all times of the day, and responding sensitively to the unique local heritage and identity of the town".
(1)3.1.2 The vision will be delivered through a set of strategic objectives, responding to the specific issues identified and discussed above. The Objectives are:
Objective 1: Strengthen Local Character and Identity
- Create a strong image for Rayleigh which will promote the town
- Enhance the setting of heritage assets, the conservation area and listed buildings in the town centre
- To maximise the unique character of the town afforded by the Mount and the Windmill
Objective 2: Improve Quality of Place
- Enhance the appearance, interest and quality of the townscape
- Encourage high quality new development and attractive refurbishment
- Improve the streetscape and public realm, removing street furniture clutter and improving the quality of arrival points
- Rationalise vehicular servicing, reducing the prominence of exposed service and parking yards
- Encouraging beautification programmes
Objective 3: Strengthen Vitality and Vibrancy
- Develop the conditions to attract useful and interesting shopping and restaurant / leisure outlets, including niche shopping to the town centre
- Encourage new town centre residential development, thereby making the town centre functionally more attractive and encouraging more people to use it
Objective 4: Improve Town Centre Access for All
- Make the town centre easier to reach by all modes of transport (Walking, cycling, bus and by car)
- Create a more friendly town centre environment for pedestrians and cyclists
- Reduce the negative environmental impact of traffic
- Improve connections developing vehicle, pedestrian and cycle routes that enhance access to the centre between retail uses, car parking, leisure and cultural attractions Create direct, safe and attractive routes between Websters Way, High Street and The Mount.
3.1.3 The overarching concept plan (Figure 35) illustrates the vision and objectives, which the options presented in section 4 of this Issues and Options report develop further. This concept plan gives primacy to the core of the High Street, between Eastwood Road and Holy Trinity Church, reinforcing the role and function of the town centre. It is important to work on the central area and ensure this is functioning to its best ability in the first instance: the success of this area will then have trickle-down benefits for the wider area. This will also ensure that peripheral areas do not start competing with the core area for business and footfall. The vision and objectives seek to promote diversity and choice through a greater mix of compatible uses that work together to create vital and viable places, and meet a wide range of local needs.
QUESTION 2:
(14)Do you agree with the vision and objectives established for Rayleigh Town Centre?
(3)3.2 Best Practice Principles
3.2.1 The options presented in this report have been prepared in accordance with best practice principles relating to place making and the creation of successful, vibrant, safe and attractive places. Government guidance in the form of ‘By Design, Urban Design in the Planning System: Towards Better Practice’ establishes seven principles which should be integral to any effort to improve the quality of the built form. The principles are set out in Table 1, along with commentary on how these might be incorporated within the opportunities for Rayleigh Town Centre.
3.2.2 In addition to national guidance it is important to recognise that presented within the Essex Design Guide. Originally published in the early 1970s, the Guide was updated in 1997 and again in 2005. It provides guidance for designing within the context of market towns and for lower density schemes. The latest version also provides links to the new Urban Place Supplement (UPS).
(1)3.2.3 The UPS provides a design framework for the delivery of compact, mixed-use sustainable urban development. The guidance emphasises design quality while ensuring the improvement of infrastructure and the sustainability of existing urban places. The UPS is being adopted as a supplementary planning document by most district and borough councils in Essex. The opportunities presented in this report are thus mindful of the advice contained within both the Essex Design Guide and UPS.
Table 1: Urban design principles
|
Best practice Principle / Objective |
Application to Rayleigh |
|
Character: A place with its own identity. To promote character in townscape and landscape by responding to and reinforcing locally distinctive patterns of development, landscape and culture |
Options should seek to maximise the heritage value of the town centre and quality of its built fabric. Its historic role as a market town should inform the scale of change and development, specifically in terms of the fine grain of development and buildings of architectural merit within the conservation area. The unique presence of the Mill and the Mount should be strengthened. |
|
Continuity and Enclosure: A place where public and private spaces are clearly distinguished. To promote the continuity of street frontages and the enclosure of space by development which clearly defines private and public areas |
Options should seek to enhance the quality of unsympathetic buildings within the conservation area and also address the exposed backs of properties along Websters Way and Bellingham Lane. Options for backland and infill development opportunities exist along Websters Way, strengthening the street front. Active development frontages, enclosing streets and providing for a safe and pleasant public realm should be promoted. This should apply to main streets, potential; development areas (such as to the rear of the Police Station) and connecting pedestrian routes between the High Street, Mount and Websters Way. |
|
Quality of the Public realm: A place with attractive and successful outdoor spaces. To promote public spaces and routes that are attractive, safe, uncluttered and work effectively for all in society, including disabled and elderly people |
Options should seek to balance vehicular and pedestrian movement along the High Street, creating a comfortable and attractive retail environment, including rationalisation of the High Street Taxi Rank, street tree planting and façade improvements to those buildings that undermine the quality of the Conservation area and the visual impact of exposed service areas and blank walls along Websters Way and Bellingham Lane |
|
Ease of movement: A place that is easy to get to and move through. To promote accessibility and local permeability by making places that connect with each other and are easy to move through, putting people before traffic and integrating land uses and transport |
Connections between Websters Way the High Street and Mount should be improved, through the potential creation of new routes and enhancement of existing connections. Traffic management measures, junction improvements and removal of street clutter. Provision of new pavements along both sides of Websters Way |
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Legibility: A place that has a clear image and is easy to understand. To promote legibility through development that provides recognisable routes, intersections and landmarks to help people find their way around |
Options should provide for enhanced and new direct routes through the town, leading between primary arrival points and attractors on Websters Way, the High Street and around the Mount. |
|
Adaptability: A place that can change easily. To promote adaptability through development that can respond to changing social, technological and economic conditions |
Options for new development along and adjacent to the High Street should include flexible building sizes and floor-to-ceiling heights, allowing for adaptation over time in response to changing economic circumstances and the requirements of different users. Space for independent and high street retailers should be provided. |
|
Diversity: A place with variety and choice. To promote diversity and choice through a mix of compatible developments and uses that work together to create viable places that respond to local needs |
A mix of retail uses, cafes and restaurants should be encouraged along the High Street, creating a vibrant town centre at all times of the day. Residential properties could be incorporated above new retail development, encouraging active use of the town centre at all times of the day. New development pportunities and / or a more flexible approach to planning policy in the High Street could also be explored, including reuse of vacant properties. Options could also include the reintroduction of the market to the High Street. |
QUESTION 3:
(9)Do you agree with our interpretation of Government best practice principles in terms of how they might be applied in Rayleigh Town centre?.
Figure 36: Street sign, Station Road, Rayleigh