Bath and North East Somerset, in a collaborative project with
English Heritage and the Bath Preservation
Trust, have produced and adopted a Streetscape
Manual for the District.
The Streetscape Manual is a guide to the selection, design,
installation and care of the District’s streetscape and its
historical preservation.
Its aims include reducing street clutter and duplication in
street furniture and signage, and helping to interpret national
guidance to ensure that changes reinforce local distinctiveness and
meet World Heritage Site considerations.
Streetscape History
The Streetscape Manual begins with a fascinating overview of the
District’s streetscape history and character. This describes unique
features that contribute to local distinctiveness and the overview
greatly improves our knowledge and understanding of the public
realm within the District.
Next are the overarching guidelines:
- Reinforcing local distinctiveness and improving the image of
Bath and North East Somerset.
- Minimising visual clutter – minimum palette of materials and
coordination of design.
- Materials and workmanship, regular routine inspection,
cleaning, maintenance and appropriate repair.
These guidelines are carried through into
specific guidelines that cover all aspects of the physical
public realm from paving to street trees, bollards to benches, road
markings to traffic calming. The guidelines section contains
specifications for what designs and materials to use in the
different parts of the District, and advice on how to site them to
protect important views or to minimise clutter.
Consultation and Adoption
Consultation was undertaken between 6 December 2004 and 24
January 2005 and involved the following:
> Copies of the Streetscape Manual with covering letter and
leaflets and questionnaires sent to all the Parish and Town
Councils and key stakeholders.
> Letters sent to a wide variety of interest groups informing
them of the consultation period, and where to view or purchase
copies of the Streetscape Manual.
> Copies of the Streetscape Manual, leaflets and
questionnaires distributed to all the libraries throughout the
district, and to the main Council Offices.
> Website designed and advertised.
> Press releases, with coverage in local press and radio
interview.
The attached `Statement of Community Involvement' contains all
the comments received, the Council's response to these comments and
the proposed actions. It also lists further editorial changes to
the text.
Adoption
In April 2005, the Streetscape Manual was adopted as
Council policy to be used in conjunction with other guidance,
legislation and best practice, and also as a Supplementary Planning
Document to the Bath and North East Somerset Revised Deposit
Draft.
Review
The Streetscape Manual will be tested over the coming year and
will be reviewed and updated after April 2006. This will provide
the opportunity to identify any omissions and to refine and update
the information provided. Any suggestions are very
welcome and should be forwarded to the contact details
listed below.
There are also some outstanding topic areas where further
testing and assessment is required, for example in relation to
identifying natural paving materials. The review provides the
opportunity to report the findings of this further
research.
Major Schemes and New Street Furniture
It should be noted that the selection of street furniture
has generally been made in order to continue the current themes or
styles that exist in the various settlements throughout
the District. This was done intentionally to avoid the
piecemeal and incremental introduction of different desgins that
might conflict with the overarching guidelines of reinforcing local
distintiveness, minimising visual clutter with the minimal palette
of materials and co-ordinating designs.
In signficant public realm improvement schemes it will
be appropriate to review the range of street furniture to be
installed, taking into account local characteristics and the image
of the area. This is to be encouraged, and the updated street
furniture can be included in future versions of the Streetscape
Manual
Paving samples outside the Guildhall
Following the commission of research into natural stone and
manmade paving materials, a number of sample panels of
natural paving stones will be laid outside the Guildhall in
Bath. This should now take place in September 2005 and
will form part of the consultation process for the Streetscape
Manual.
This consultation will be advertised separately.
