Melville Placemaking Project Public Realm improvements January 2023

1.0 Project outline

Groundwork is leading a placemaking project to re-design the streetscape in the Melville area of Torbay. This project will work collaboratively with a local landscape architect, Groundwork Project Officer, locals in the area, public services, and Torbay Council to deliver a phased plan to redevelop the public realm of Warren Road, Warren Hill, Melville Lane, and Melville Street.

There are both opportunities to improve the public realm and to address various issue identified by the community. This could include and is not limited to:

• Traffic circulation: with Warren Road often used as a rat run between Shedden Hill and Abbey Road.
• Lack of resident parking: with commuters taking up parking spaces during working hours.
• Bin storage: with wheelie bins obstructing the curb and communal bins being unsightly.
• Lack of community gathering space and places for children to safely play

Four specific locations have been identified which are key to Melville Area:

1. The Point
2. The Big tree
3. Melville Car Park
4. Melville Street/Warren Hill junction
   

Groundwork Project Officer will engage residents using a co-created design process to develop ideas of how this area could be improved and provide opportunities for socializing, play, recreation and relaxation. The site has huge potential and, in some ways, represents a ‘blank canvas from which to work.

2.0 Our Approach

Groundwork Project Officer Emily will work collaboratively with residents, Torbay Council, and local stakeholders to co-design/ deliver a robust engagement process in order to ensure designs are developed in line with community aspirations and can be effectively maintained in the longer term.
Improved public realm in the Melville area Landscape Architect Helen will work cohesively with Groundwork Project Officer, Torbay Council, and the local community to bring about positive change, focusing on creating an attractive and functional public realm, with an emphasis on climate resilience. She will work with the community to identify priorities and translate these into viable designs and aligned activities.

• Recognise people as assets: building on the community’s skills and capabilities
• Mutuality and reciprocity: working in reciprocal relationships with mutual responsibilities and expectations
• Facilitating bottom-up processes: enabling the community to realise their aspirations for their neighbourhood
• Raising aspiration and managing expectations
• Bringing together expert and local knowledge
• Robust qualitative and quantitative data to inform decision making
• Dedicated to working collaboratively, avoiding duplication & consultation fatigue
• Contribute towards health and well-being outcomes

3.0 Meeting the Brief: Creating Street scene in Melville

Helen the landscape Architect will undertake an initial site visit and visual survey to record hard & soft features, including vegetation notes & tree information.
Emily the Project Officer will liaise with the relevant council officers to bring together a steering group of experts for this project, to ensure the designs collaboratively created by the community and the architect are achievable.

This project will be community led from the very start, therefore a competition will be run to brand the project. Including a name and logo.

Helen will produce sketch level details for the area, which will kick start and inspire community led contribution to the design. Both Helen and Emily will be in regular attendance at the monthly residents meetings that will be used as regular check ins to track progress. Helen and Emily will also attend local events as well as potentially host their own placemaking events to maximise community engagement. The developments, engagement events, and progress of the project will be advertised and documented on www.thepointtorbay.co.uk

Design development will be presented in an A3 landscape format report issued as a PDF.

• Cover sheet
• Project introduction/summary/design aims
• Existing site analysis, opportunities and challenges, condition comments, presented over existing base mapping information
• Outline sketch and concept proposals along with precedent images and sketches.

Developing the Detailed Design: Using the feedback from the community/ co-design sessions, a single design will be developed to a level of detail suitable for a funding application or business case. This developed proposal will outline the following level of detail on our drawings and supporting information:

• Outline surfacing materials
• Location of any bollards, bins or furniture
• Indicative changes of level and elevation, locations of ramps, steps
• Boundary treatments, railings, fences, gates and walls
• Key details and sections
• Proposed tree positions and types
• Description of planting types

This will include a cost estimate to help with applications for grant funding (if required).

Outcome

The result of this work will provide a detailed community approved plan for the development of the public realm of Melville. It will be “shelf ready” so that when appropriate funding becomes available this plan will be ready to go. Helen will design into the plan the ability to enact it in stages so that smaller funding bids will be able support the realisation of this vision.

4.0 Project Team

• Project Officer: Emily Tyack, Emily.tyack@groundwork.org.uk
• Landscape Architect: Helen Allen
• Highways Officer: Tim Northway
• Tree Officer: Daniel Vickridge
• Parking Officer: Suzie Hayman and Beverley Hooper
• Planning Officer: Jim Blackwell
• Melville Area – Residents Committee

Please direct any questions you may have to:
Emily Tyack: emily.tyack@groundwork.org.uk