Connecting Eastside Whole Project Award

Project Team

Client: Nottingham City Council
Designer: Patel Taylor & Nottingham City Council
Contractor: Nottingham City Council

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Project summary

The purpose of this project was to deliver key elements of the recently produced Sneinton Market and Eastside Gateway Neighbourhood Development Plan and elements of the Turning Point East scheme detailed in the Greater Nottingham Local Transport Plan 2006/7-2010/11.

The Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), commissioned by Nottingham City Council, Blueprint and Nottingham Regeneration Limited was produced in June 2008 by Gehl Architects. The plan looked at the opportunities for urban regeneration in this area in the next 10-15 years and provides a strategy for physical, social and economic regeneration.

The Greater Nottingham Local Transport Plan 2006/7-2010/11 sets out a five year strategy for the development of local integrated transport schemes. The objectives of the Plan are formed around the Government’s “Shared Priority for Transport” and include three locally important objectives relating to supporting regeneration, improving quality of life and the need for efficient maintenance. The Turning Point East scheme is related to facilitating the regeneration of the Eastside area.

Sneinton Market

Sneinton Market was identified as one of four key catalyst regeneration projects in the Sneinton Market and Eastside Gateway Neighbourhood Development Plan. The current Market area is neglected and greatly diminished from the previous wholesale market that was a large part of city life. There are currently ten stalls on the Market on a Saturday and one stall on a Monday. The remainder of the time the Marketplace is a City Council pay and display car park.

The Neighbourhood Development Plan identified that the majority of movements from the Sneinton area into the City Centre are by foot however there is currently little specific provision for movement of pedestrians or cyclists. Streets are mainly dominated by the provision for vehicles.

This project seeks to create a new high quality public square for Sneinton Marketplace, together with high quality public realm connecting to and around the market area to create a strong sense of place.

The project also seeks to improve the physical connections between the City Centre and Sneinton and St Ann’s, via public realm improvements to Hockley and Gedling Street which were also identified as an early priority as part of the NDP. This also compliments and achieves some elements of the wider Turning Point East scheme.

It is envisaged that the opportunity to deliver key aspects of the Neighbourhood Development Plan proposals relating to public realm and connectivity will have a significant catalytic impact on the area and create a momentum for change, encouraging confidence, ownership and private sector investment.

Turning Point East

Currently the A60 Huntingdon Street/Lower Parliament Street is the principal route through the city serving cross-city traffic movements, It is particularly important given the absence of the formal eastern section of the Ring Road. The existing arrangement accommodates these movements using separate northbound and southbound routes which do not provide a simple or legible route and bring traffic further into the City Centre than is desirable, creating conflict with pedestrians and bus operations.

The Turning Point East scheme (previously called the Eastside Transport Strategy) is based upon a single two-way alignment to be introduced on Huntingdon Street and Lower Parliament Street, which will focus north and south traffic onto a single route and open up opportunities for more creative use of the residual network to provide overall improvements to the public realm and pedestrian, cycle and public transport priority.

Whilst the two-way north/south route is primarily aimed at accommodating through traffic movements, it will play an important role in stimulating and serving the regeneration of the Eastside area.

This project includes the implementation of the first phase of the Turning Point East scheme and in particular, high quality public realm and pedestrian and cycling connectivity.