There was praise, there were some ‘meh’ comments and some brutal criticism – it’s as we thought – Plymouth City Centre is a Marmite location.
Love it or hate it, it is unique and we’ve put together a plan which sets out how we want to show off the best of our post war buildings and improve the other parts of the city centre which are looking a little sad.
Our Cabinet today adopted the new City Centre Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (CAAMP), which was put together with funding support from Historic England.
It sets out how we could guide change for the city centre which has the highest number of 20th century listed buildings in the country. As part of the plan preparation we asked for your thoughts and here’s just a flavour of the comments:
‘Could it all be knocked down?...ugly city.’
‘Bring back the splendour of our city centre.’
‘There should be more murals and graffiti should be welcomed in set areas to brighten up the gray buildings.’
‘I really just wanted to say that it's all a superb idea. I think celebrating Plymouth as a 'Post war' city is something to be applauded.’
‘I hope you take into consideration wheelchair users as the present city centre paved area is both very painful and dangerous for us.’
‘The Guildhall and city centre shops on Royal Parade need a power wash.’
‘Sounds a good idea all round.’
‘The future of what is currently a white elephant of the Civic centre building will be high on your to do lists I hope.’
“Plymouth always gives the impression that it tries to bury its great place in history…when anyone knows that I am a Plymothian and grew up along with the post-war city, most people comment on how amazing it was in the 1950's and 1960's. Today the city appears sad, badly maintained, uncared for.’
‘Generally I feel it’s important that cities look after their historical buildings, Plymouth has so many and definitely could do more to sing its own praise’.
The details of the plan were set out in an earlier release here but in a nutshell, it sets out opportunities to celebrate the city’s heritage including
- Improvements to buildings – façade cleaning, maintenance, particularly cleaning Portland stone
- Improving shopfronts – gradual reinstatement of more historically appropriate shop fronts and signage
- Reuse of buildings – establishing a mix of uses and finding new uses for buildings, including residential to increase activity outside office and shop hours
- Public realm improvements – such as improving and replace street furniture to remove clutter from street and public spaces including Old Town Street and Royal Parade
- Increase public involvement, through digital and physical interpretation, talks, walks, art installations, performances and marketing opportunities
- Creation of a faith quarter – around Catherine Street there are four active religious buildings
- Responding to the climate emergency – looking at reducing the impact of cars in the conservation area to improve air quality, reduce carbon and improve pedestrian experience, installing electric vehicle charging points and encouraging more cycling
Deputy Leader of the Council Councillor Patrick Nicholson said: “The comments showed a lot of passion about our city centre, with some really considered responses. There’s no doubt that some architecture is not to everyone’s taste but it is also clear that people agree we need to plan for preserving as well as building in projects and developments that bring new life to the city centre.
“Some of these changes are just around the corner. We’ve started work on Old Town Street, we are in discussions with landlords about cleaning buildings and we have just hosted two events to give people more insight into the remarkable history.
“Thanks to the High Street Heritage Action Zone funding the Gdynia Fountain at the gateway to the city centre has been restored to its former glory and a number of community projects are inspiring local people.
“In the coming months, you will see some major changes all designed to preserve and celebrate what we have as well as create an exciting and lively city centre fit for the 21st century. Watch this space!”