Latest West End News
Works are complete on Yorkshire Street
Enjoy Shopping on Yorkshire Street
Construction work on Yorkshire Street is now complete and the end result is a huge improvement.
An investment of around £500,000 by Winning Back Morecambe’s West End has provided a new street layout that gives the look and feel of a quality shopping area.
The improvements will make shopping in the west End a more enjoyable experience and hopefully more businesses will be encouraged to take up some of the empty units.
Access for all on Yorkshire Street
People with disabilities have helped to design the improvements to Yorkshire Street to ensure that shopping on the street is safe and accessible to all.
Lancaster City Council helped to organise a design workshop at Galloway’s Society for the Blind on Balmoral Road. Attending the workshop were representatives from the Royal National Institute for the Blind, Galloway’s, One Voice (a disability advice service), and members of the Local Access Group.
At the workshop suggestions were made to the layout and design resulting in a number of changes being made to the design to enable the street to better meet the needs of the visually impaired. For instance, without kerbs and other orientation clues blind people with guide dogs can find negotiating streets very difficult so the new design has taken this into consideration, the drainage channel was changed, and a number of measures to help identify crossing points easily including surfacing alterations and orientation features were added.
To assess the alterations Lancaster City Council’s Access Officer organised a site visit to Yorkshire Street to give the improvements a trial run. The feedback was very positive;
• Guide dogs were able to find the ‘kerb’ edge without difficulty and moved as though the kerbs were still there.
• The cobbled surfacing did let them know where the crossing points were as the surfaces coincided with the crossing points.
• The bollards helped to define the kerb line, especially for those with some vision.
The trial run went well and those consulted felt much more involved and in control of the process, which led to reassurance that things were being done with their needs incorporated at the beginning, rather than at the end.
As a result of these design improvements Yorkshire Street may also be included in the training route for Guide Dogs.
Tony Finn, a spokesperson from One Voice, took part in the consultation, and the trial run, and said: “I am delighted to have been involved and that time was taken to consult with the visually impaired. I am even more delighted that the comments made have been incorporated and led to a street that is very comfortable to walk down and is easier to cross. It is refreshing to work with a contractor who is prepared to experiment to make the street more accessible to all users and to understand what had to be done.”
Contractors undertaking the improvement works to Yorkshire Street, Volker Stevin, have tried to consider the needs of all visitors to the street. Mark Gardner, Divisional Business Manager for Volker Stevin, said “It is particularly satisfying that this effort has been recognised as achieving such a standard that it can now be used as a training route for guide dogs.”
Ged McAllister, Acting Engineering Manager, Lancaster City Council, said: “There is considerable debate nationally about the use of shared surfaces. This implementation has shown that consultation with affected parties can have benefits for all and will hopefully assist in the development of this type of more pedestrian friendly street layout.”
Residents offered the chance to have their say on Chatsworth Gardens scheme
Plans of the Chatsworth Gardens housing scheme were on view to the public last Friday
Local students from Heysham High School were also invited along to take part in a design competition. They have been offered the opportunity to design the two parks within the Chatsworth Gardens development. The winning design will be incorporated within the development.
If you were unable to attend the consultation event, you can see the information boards by clicking on the links below:
Concept.pdf
Design_Standards.pdf
graphics.pdf
investing_in_Morecambe.pdf
Places_to_Live.pdf
Public_realm.pdf
Designer Café Planned for the West End Gardens
The West End Gardens has been transformed and plans for the final phase including a cafe and toilet block are well underway.
Building is almmost complete on the designer café which is quite unusual. The front and rear of the café will be window panels to frame views of the bay though the building.
Coun Evelyn Archer, cabinet member with responsibility for regeneration in Morecambe, said: “The play areas at the West End Gardens are probably some of the best in the district and are a big attraction to both local people and those from further afield.
“The one thing they currently lack is a set of toilets and a good quality café to grab a cup of coffee and a sandwich.
“With these new plans we hope to rectify this and make the West End Gardens one of the top visitor attractions in the district.”
The plans for the café also include an outdoor seating area on raised south-facing terraces.
The modern toilet block has been designed to be in keeping with the cutting edge design of the café by using high gloss painted steel with hardwood doors and fittings.
The plans are a result of a consultation exercise with local people which took place in summer 2006.
The West End Partnership and Lancaster City Council are looking for potential operators to run the cafe.
concession_NandS_Elevations.pdf