We need a Plan
The threat to move the
Berwick Records Office away from the town is just another example of
decisions being taken by Northumberland County Council, without local
consultation or as part of a comprehensive plan. Yet Berwick is awash
with plans, ranging from the “Spittal Point Development Brief
2004”, Gillespie's “The Future of Berwick A Vision &
Development Framework” (2006) “ via the “Berwick-upon-Tweed
Traffic Management and Parking Strategy Report 2009”, to the
“Vision for Berwick’s Future Mouth of the Tweed Food Heritage
Eco-museum Proposal 2011”. It is a bit like stamp collecting, and
if anyone would like to read them my album now has 12 Berwick Plans,
and can be found at
http://www.gsitec.co.uk/GSI/KWIK/BERWICK_PLANS.html.
I would love to add to my collection, so please let me have any other
plans that I am missing, as I hear there is now a Berwick Plan
2012-2017 that has only been seen by the Arch Board, and a new
offering from the County Council called the Blueprint for Berwick.
We are clearly very
good at paying consultants large sums of money to write plans, but
translating them into action seems to be where we fall down. However
if you take the trouble to read them, and I warn you that they do
vary in quality, there are some strong themes -
- Berwick has incredible assets – its People, its Architectural Heritage, its Natural Environment and its History
- Berwick has problems. We are the most deprived Market Town in Northumberland, we have no further or higher education, we have derelict buildings, we have seemingly unresolvable traffic and parking issues.
- We are in a fantastic location for the development of trade and tourism, to exploit the A1, the East Coast Rail Line and the Docks. We should be a major economic growth point for the Borders.
- There is a strong sense of community and cohesion
So do we need yet
another plan? I for one do not want to hand over any more money to
architects, self-styled development companies or consultants, so that
we can be told yet again what we already know. So it may seem strange
then that I welcome the decision by the Town Council to use the
Berwick Eastern Arc Area Action Plan (AAP) as the basis for our new
Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP). I can list many reasons, but
would like to present just a few.
The Social &
Economic Context
Gillespie's outstanding
2006 study includes a list of 54 development sites on both banks of
the Tweed. Proposals were presented in a spatial context that aligned
the development with the immediate surrounds, and had a policy
objective or purpose, be it job creation, the promotion of tourism,
or enhancing the provision of public services. Put simply the
proposed buildings served the population of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
are justified in terms of their social and economic benefit to the
people who live here.
Urban Initiatives 2008
Berwick Regeneration Strategy reduced this list to just 10 sites,
mostly within the Walls, and shifts its focus to buildings rather
than people. The Tweed & Silk plan (2009?) is aesthetically
pleasing, but in the same way that Tweed is not manufactured in
Berwick and Silk comes from China, this 'plan' is little more than a
design guide that lacks depth, and fails to tackle the real issues
that face Berwick. By 2012 just 2 sites seem to remain in the
“Berwick Plan: a 5-10 year investment plan for property development
and public realm improvements in the historic centre of
Berwick-upon-Tweed” prepared by Arch, which has never been open to
public consultation. It is little more than a wish list prepared by a
local builder looking to make a quick buck.
As the list of
'strategic sites' has shrunk, so has any policy objectives associated
with them. Rather than implementing polices, using development as
part of the delivery strategy; all that is of importance is the use
of public money to throw up a building.
The ARC reinstates the
Social & Economic context. There is a purpose for the development
strategies it presents. It seeks to deliver economic development by
enabling people to get an eduction or a job. It showcases the town
assets, being its historic, built and natural heritage. It is a
servant of the Town, not a charter for random building that only
benefits the developer. We need a plan that will deliver gains for
everyone, have a purpose that are underpinned by credible policy
objectives.
Geography
There is more to
Berwick than what lies within the walls. There are vibrant
communities and many people outside of the town centre who also
deserve attention. We have two key Gateways, to South at Scremeston
and to the North at the Marshall Meadows. We have opportunities to
create economic growth points, at Berwick Ramparts, the Docks and
Tweedside Industrial Estate. Why do we not have any designated
Enterprise Zones like Blyth? Spittal is deservedly a Conservation
Area. There is a lot more to Berwick than what lies within the walls,
but that always seems to be the focus of attention. The ARC covers
more than just the Town Centre, and the first stage of the NDP
process is to define the Plan Area. I urge the Town Council to make
that area the whole of Berwick, to the North, West and South.
Cost
There is no need to pay
consultants to write yet another plan. The ARC encompasses all the
previous plans, and extends them. All that is needed is for
additional material to be produced to cover the expanded area, and to
bring a few things up to date. It is almost ready for public
consultation at minimal cost now at minimal expense.
Us
It is time to re-engage
with Berwick's greatest asset – its people. The NDP process
requires public consultation. It will mean an end to Berwick Plans
being drawn up by self appointed committees, or developments being
parachuted into the Town which we do not want or need. I look forward
to their being innovative and traditional engagement with people
throughout the Berwick Plan Area – From Marshall Meadows in the
North to Spittal in the South and Low Cocklaw to the West. Local
meetings can be held in all the Wards covered by Berwick Town
Council, with means to feedback ideas verbally, by post on using
modern social media. That's the job of Berwick Town Council.
Why have Plans?
So how does it work,
and why are plans important. This is best exemplified by the varied
ideas for Walkergate in the many incarnations of the “Berwick Plan”
: a multi-storey car park, skills centre, youth centre, and multi-use
community facility are just some ideas. All of these are linked to a
clearly defined policy objective, such as enabling our kids to get an
education, promoting our tourist trade, encouraging more people to
use the shops etc. Whatever you may think of the end objective, in
all cases the purpose of the building is to help deliver a positive
benefit for the town's people or economy. However having stripped
away all concept of policy delivery what is now proposed is a boring
block of offices on the former Kwik Save site, in a Town centre awash
with empty offices. Interestingly not a single Berwick plan has ever
proposed using the site for offices, and the only beneficiaries seem
to be the builders and architects.
What is happening now
is that buildings are being proposed outside of any context. “NCC
needs Offices, so lets build them on Walkergate” – forgetting
that the policy context identifies the site as strategic for the
promotion of Berwick as a tourist destination, and that we need a
central site for Skills and Training. “Berwick needs a Coach Park
– so lets put one on this car park” - ignoring the need for more
long stay car parking to promote Marygate shopping and our hotel
trade, and it ignores the environmental impact of juggernaut coaches
trying to navigate narrow streets in what most plans identify as our
'Heritage Quarter'. Developers come and developers go a lot richer,
but we have to live with the buildings that they leave behind.
Using a comprehensive
plan that is evidence based, properly consulted, and focusing on
People rather than Buildings delivers a different outcome. Here is my
alternative to just throwing up a building – start with the
evidence and the policy needs.
- Berwick needs Further and Higher Education
- We need to develop our Gateways at the A1, North & South
- The Berwick Ramparts and associated retail park is close to where a lot of people live, and could be a major economic growth point
- Berwick has assets, architectural, heritage and natural – which support our tourist industry
- Berwick needs more & better paid jobs
- Coach drivers are as important as the visitors that they bring to the town
- There is not much money about
Now we the have the
basis to see how buildings can help deliver these objectives. The
County want a new office for their staff, so they could move their
back-office staff now into the 2200 square metres of brand new
offices at the Ramparts at minimal cost. That will help to turn the
North into an Economic Growth Point, locating skilled and well paid
jobs closer to where a lot of people live. It also develops that part
of Berwick as Northern Gateway, drawing people in to the town from
the Borders & Scotland. Walkergate's eyesore buildings (Kwik
Save, the Library and the Job Centre) have long been considered as a
-ve contribution to our architectural heritage and should all be
cleared. This makes way for a multi-use centre that will promote our
assets and the town's tourist trade – a modern Heritage &
Visitors Centre, built sympathetically in partnership with
Northumberland College. The site can accommodate a credible coach
park with facilities, public facing NCC staff, and house the
Berwick's Records Office, which is where I started.
