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Enjoy Shopping on Yorkshire Street
Construction work on Yorkshire Street is now complete and the end result is a huge improvement
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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.”
Project Director Bids Farewell
Steve Matthews, Project Director for Urban Renewal for Winning Back Morecambe’s West End, is leaving in May.
He will be sad to leave after spending many years working in Morecambe, particularly in the West End. He was instrumental in the development of the West End Masterplan and has played a key role in creating the vision of making the West End a great place to live, work and play.
The team at Winning Back Morecambe’s West End would like to thank him for his hard work and dedication, and we wish him well in his new job.
Your Viewpoint on ‘Chatsworth Gardens’
A consultation event was held in February for local people to find out more about the planned ‘Chatsworth Gardens’ housing scheme.
Places for People talked through their proposals to residents and architects were also on hand to discuss design elements.
Chatsworth Gardens will be a mixture of brand new houses and apartments. There will be a range of housing styles and sizes built around two central garden squares. The new housing will replace existing buildings bordering Regent Road, Balmoral Road, Westminster Road and Albert Road.
Those who attended completed the event completed feedback forms. Evaluation of these forms will help to inform the developers with their future proposals.
Some of the positive comments you made included:
“The West End needs something new to make it a nice place to live again”
“It will be a re-birth for the West End”
“There is open space to encourage the community to come together”
“It will be a vast improvement on the current housing stock”
Some of the critical comments included:
“It may not blend well with period properties”
“I would have preferred refurbishment of existing properties”
A prize draw to win Easter eggs was held on the day, the winners were; A Prior, Thomas Barrett and Fatima Ramos.
Pictured are the winners with Idris Bapu from Places for People.