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Welcome to the Stratford Society
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Pilot Project to Upgrade a Stratford Street

Project Outline
Workshop Invitation
Steering Committee Recommendations

Project Outline

Introduction

Every historic town has a potentially unique character that is shaped by its setting, buildings and streetscape. Stratford-upon-Avon is no exception. It still possesses an old market town street pattern, numerous buildings dating back to the 14 th and 15 th centuries, and a rich architectural and historical legacy. That is one of the main reasons why over 3.5 million visitors per year are attracted to the town. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll. Inappropriate shopfronts, out of character advertising, unsympathetic surfacing materials, intrusive and repetitive signage and poor quality street furniture have all started to detract from the inherent character of the town. It is in this context that the Stratford-upon-Avon Society (the local Civic Society) and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust have come together to propose a town centre demonstration project to i mprove the quality of one town centre street.

Past and Ongoing Initiatives in the Town

The Stratford-upon-Avon Society has long been concerned about inappropriate shopfront design. Local authorities have little direct control over shopfronts and unsympathetic treatment can quickly erode the character of a town and obscure the architectural and historical legacy left by earlier generations. So concerned was the Society, that it organised an initiative during 2002 to raise awareness about the importance of good shopfront design and invited all restaurants and shops in the town centre to participate in a program to recognise “good” shopfront design. The Society eventually selected one outright winner and six commendations. The program was judged a great success and the District Council praised the Society at the award ceremony for its “foresight and enthusiasm”.

Consultants have recently completed a Heath Check on the town for the Stratford on Avon District Council. The Health Check has resulted in an Action Plan which, among other things, has emphasised the need to: (i) improve the quality of urban public spaces through [better] paving, seating, lighting, minor environmental enhancements and overhaul of the signage; (ii) tighten conservation area policies to support and improve key historic buildings and streetscapes; (iii) enhance the conservation area by streetscape design; and (iv) implement an improvement package to upgrade the historic buildings that attract visitors and develop their interpretation. As a result of this analysis, the Action Plan now includes a specific project under the heading of Physical Environment which consists of “Improvements to the quality of the town’s streetscape through paving, seating, lighting, minor environmental enhancements (e.g., window boxes, public art) and overhaul of the signage to enable the greater legibility and access of the townscape to the visitor” (see item 1.2 of the Implementation Plan).

The present project seeks to show how this might be done in relation to one high profile demonstration street in the town centre. The street selected for the demonstration project is High Street. During the Stratford Society’s earlier shopfront initiative, High Street presented particular problems, since many (most) of the premises are leased by out-of-town chains who have no particular understanding of, or interest in, Stratford’s architectural and historical heritage. Many even refused point blank to participate in the recognition scheme. The project has therefore been carefully crafted to try and address this particular problem. Another reason for selecting High Street, is that it has been identified in the County Council’s transport strategy for the town as a potential pedestrian priority street. Vehicular access will be restricted and steps will be taken to make the street more attractive to pedestrians.

Project Objectives

The project has six main objectives as follows:

  • To build on the earlier shopfront initiative – and the proposal to turn High Street into a pedestrian priority area -- to raise awareness of the need to improve the quality of the streetscape to support the local visitor economy.
  • To engage the District and County Councils and all proprietors/managers of High Street premises in a process that would lead to the preparation of guidance on appropriate shopfront design, surface treatments, street furniture, signage, etc.
  • To consult with -- and seek advice on the project -- from the Civic Trust (in relation to their ongoing Streetscape initiative), the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and English Hertiage.
  • To recruit a designer to prepare outline sketches and guidance on all the above matters.
  • To present the outcome of the process to all residents of the town to disseminate the guidance as widely as possible in the town.
  • To work with the relevant local authorities to encourage them to adopt the guidance and process those relating to buildings and shopfronts as supplementary planning guidance to influence future planning applications.

Proposed Project

The project would be undertaken in four phases as follows:

  • At the start of the process, the relevant local authorities and all High Street shop proprietors/managers would be invited to participate in a lunch-time seminar at the Town Hall to launch the project. The seminar would involve a brief presentation on good and bad practice in streetscape design (including the importance of good shopfront design), followed by a facilitated discussion designed to win active support for the project. It is hoped that Les Sparks, OBE, co-founder of the EHTF, will agree to be the keynote speaker at the launch seminar.
  • Once the design team had been selected, they would be introduced to the relevant local authorities and to all the shops and restaurants in High Street. All organisations contacted would be invited to collaborate with the design team as partners. This would increase the chances of the guidance being implemented.
  • The design team would prepare outline sketches and guidance on the type of shopfronts that would match the overall building façade and re-instate/enhance features of architectural or historical importance. They would also suggest guidelines for advertising, surfacing materials, signage, street furniture and the way the remaining traffic in the street might be handled (i.e., how to best accommodate people and vehicles in a common space). The intention would be to generate guidance that would be applicable to any designated, highly visible town centre street. The guidance would be at three levels of detail: (a) simple actions that could be done as part of any future redecoration of the shopfronts, or maintenance of the street; (b) low cost work which would go some way towards preparing matching shopfronts and a better quality of streetscape; and (c) the full matching shopfronts and enhanced streetscape.
  • Once the Design Guide had been completed, there would be another lunch-time seminar to disseminate the results of the project as widely as possible. Among other things, the seminar would seek to encourage all town centre proprietors/managers to recognise the particular architectural and historical character of their premises and to recognise that improvements are desirable and should form part of their normal marketing strategy.

Consultants Team

It is expected that the team appointed to undertake the project would consist of urban planners, architects and designers with experience of undertaking similar assignments in historic towns. The work of the consultants would be guided by a small Steering Committee comprising Ian G. Heggie (Stratford Society Chairman), Una Carmody (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust), Leon Tanner (Stratford Society and former Architect) and Will Hawkes(Stratford Society and practising Architect).

Expected Outputs

The main outputs from the study would be a greater awareness of the way in which the different elements of the streetscape interact to create a pleasing ambience for the town and ways in which the streetscape of High Street might be improved. The District Council has indicated that it generally supports this initiative – particularly in relation to shopfront design --and has undertaken to process the proposed Design Guide for shopfronts as supplementary planning guidance.

It is expected that the model developed through the demonstration project would be applicable to other vulnerable streets in the town and the relevant local authorities would be urged in due course to extend the results of the demonstration project to the whole town centre.

Financial Implications

The total costs of undertaking the project are as follows:

£

Cost of preparing the Guidance 11,500

Cost of two lunch time seminars:

venue 500

other expenses 100

Contingency (10%) 400

TOTAL 12,500

The County and District Council shave agreed to contribute £5,000 each towards the costs of the project, the C.A. Rookes Charitable Trust has agreed to contribute £1,500 and the Stratford Society will contribute a further £500 from its own resources. The Town Council has also agreed to allow the Town Hall to be used for the lunch-time seminars at no cost (saving an estimated £500.

Implementation Arrangements

A short list of 4 suitably qualified design firms will be prepared. Before inviting them to submit statements of interest, the District and County Councils would be invited to give a “no objection” to the short list.

Each firm would be invited to submit statements of interest, including details of their experience and suitability to undertake the work and the 2 top firms would then be invited to submit detailed proposals. The invited firms would be told, as part of the invitation letter, what criteria would be used in the selection process. The Steering Committee would evaluate the 2 proposals and the best evaluated firm would be invited for an interview. The meeting would be used to clarify queries and satisfy the Committee that the winning bidder was fully able to undertake the project successfully.

The winning firm would be appointed under a standard RIBA contract.

It is expected that the bidding process might take up to 3 months from start to award and that the project would be completed within about 6 months of the consultant starting work.

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Workshop on the Stratford-upon-Avon Streetscape Project

26 January 2005, 6.00 pm at the Town Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon

Introduction

Every historic town has a potentially unique character that is shaped by its setting, buildings and streetscape. Stratford-upon-Avon is no exception. It still possesses an old market town street pattern, numerous buildings dating back to the 14 th and 15 th centuries, and a rich architectural and historical legacy. That is one of the main reasons why over 3.5 million visitors per year are attracted to the town. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll. Poorly designed shopfronts, out of character advertising, unsympathetic surfacing materials, intrusive and repetitive signage and poor quality street furniture have all started to detract from the inherent character of the town. It is in this context that a number of concerned organisations got together to propose a demonstration project to i mprove the quality of the town centre.

The Demonstration Project

The project focuses on one high profile street in the town centre -- High Street. A firm of urban designers, Colin Davis Associates, were appointed to carry out the study which aims to show how a combination of pedestrian priority measures, better signage and surface treatments, more sympathetic treatment of the building facades and improved lighting could turn the street into a magnet for residents and visitors alike.

The study started in September and the consultant has now produced a draft final report summarising the previous history of the street, national principles guiding streetscape enhancement schemes, the results of an audit of the current status of the street, and various ways in which the streetscape could be improved and made more attractive.

Proposed Workshop

Before finalising and disseminating the report, we wanted all shop owners and proprietors in High Street to have an opportunity to share in the results and make their contribution to the work. In that connection, the study sponsors are proposing to hold a brief workshop in the Town Hall at 06.00 pm on the 26 th January. After a brief introduction, Colin Davis will present the results of the study. The floor will then be thrown open for discussion. After the discussion, wine and soft drinks will be served and participants will have an opportunity to speak directly to Colin Davis and the other parties involved.

Sponsors

The project was conceived by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and the Stratford-upon-Avon Society and is supported by the Town Council and the Town Management Partnership. The costs of the study were financed by the County Council, the District Council and the CS Rookes Memorial Trust, while the Town Council have provided free use of the Town Hall for the above workshop. The study was guided by a steering committee that included representatives from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust/Royal Shakespeare Company (who chaired the committee), the Stratford-upon-Avon Society, the County Council and the District Council. The consultant appointed to undertake the study, Colin Davis Associates (Urban Designers), is one to the country’s leading firms of urban designers and have completed streetscape studies and guidance manuals for Edinburgh, Bath and several of the London boroughs.

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Warwickshire County Council
Royal Shakespeare Company
Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Stratford-upon-Avon Society (01789 299 891)
Stratford-upon-Avon Town Council

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Steering Committee Recommendations

General

The Committee that guided this project and organised the consultation meeting at the Town Hall on the 26 th January 2005, has made the following recommendations to ensure that the report does not simply end up on the shelf:

  • The report should be adopted as specific Supplementary Planning Guidance for the High Street and the principles underlying the report should be adopted as guidance for the town as a whole.
  • Copies of the report should be delivered by hand to each shop in the High Street, explaining that the report is expected to become Supplementary Planning Guidance, with a request that it be passed on to the owner of the premises for their information.
  • The Planning Department should become more proactive in relation to High Street shopfronts. They should seek to contact new proprietors when ever a lease changes hands, should make then aware of the report and insist that any re-modelling is consistent with the recommendations set out in the report.
  • The District Council Avon Area Committee should give favourable consideration to applications from High Street shopkeepers for grants to support the costs of re-modelling their shopfronts.
  • All work carried out on the street should in future should be reviewed by the District and County Councils and subjected to a “no objection” in relation to any planned work. Such work might include alterations to shopfronts, repair of pavements, utility work, changes to signage, etc. A special electronic sign off sheet should be designed to enable the following officials to record their no objection: County Divisional Surveyor (lighting, streets and pavements), together with the following District Council officers – Head of Streetscene, Head of Construction & Property and the Conservation Officer.
  • Once a year, the District and Town Councils should have a standing agenda item to review progress in implementing the recommendations of this report and what, if anything, should be done to further encourage their implementation.

Proposed Time Table

Report distributed to all High Street shops, end April 2005.

Report adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance, end June 2005.

Sign off sheet adopted, end June 2005.

First annual District and Town Council review meeting, February 2006.

Membership of the Steering Committee

Una Carmody, Royal Shakespeare Company/Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (Chairman until December 2004)
Will Hawkes, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (Chairman from January 2005)
Ian Heggie, Stratford Society
Trevor Askew, District Council
Julie Crawshaw, County Council
Ludo Keston, Royal Shakespeare Company
Sarah Summers, Town Council

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