What Milsom Street could look like
How about this for a plan? The residential development of the Cattle Market site, a new Fashion Museum and public square, AND the saving of the old King Edward’s School in Broad Street.
Just some of the ambitions set out in what B&NES is calling the Milsom Quarter Masterplan which – if implemented over the next twenty years – will radically change the look of the north side of the Bath’s city centre.
What is proposed is outlined in a neat little video they have quietly slipped onto YouTube without any fanfare.
Do have a look, but here’s a transcript of the detail it contains.
“The Milsom Quarter Masterplan concerns the north side of Bath city centre and the developments would be delivered over the next twenty years.
From its past as a medieval centre of trade and textile making to its boom years as a fashion retail destination during Georgian times, this marks the next chapter for this area.
Over the next five years – once the master plan is fully developed – a programme of public space investment including greening and on-street activity and animation will bring events, entertainment, and art to the Milsom Quarter to start to re-imagine the area.
The master plan seeks to create more vibrancy and diversity by introducing a greater mix of uses – proposals include the creation of 180 new homes, ‘maker space’ for industries, a new Fashion Museum, brownfield site redevelopment, the conversion of empty floors above shops into employment space and housing and improved public spaces.
The master plan will deliver community benefits and redefine the purpose of this part of the city centre.
The master plan has six key themes.
. The future of the Milsom Quarter will be founded in its origins, and the area will once again become a place renowned as a destination for fashion – centered around a new Fashion Museum.
2. The transformation of the area will see creative industries thrive with new workspace for innovation, designers and makers introduced.
3. The area will be home to business, offering food and drink, beauty and well-being, and interiors and will improve links to Walcot Street and its artisan offer.
4. The quarter will also provide 180 much-needed new homes by repurposing upper floors above shops and through new development and will offer more neighbourhood facilities.
5. The streets and spaces will be improved with a new public square outside St Michael’s Church, and priority given to walking, cycling and public transport whilst still maintaining vehicular access where needed.
6. The area will become greener, with more plants and trees, and range of projects to improve energy efficiency and utilise and store renewable energy.
The council and other key landowners are working together to improve the commercial offer, investing in the area, improve footfall and promote the quarter as an opportunity for regional-scale investment.
So how are we proposing to do this?
We’ve broken the Milsom Quarter into 4 key areas of change.
Milsom Street Core
Broad Street Yards
St Michael’s Neighbourhood
Walcot Gateway.
Milsom Street Core will retain its character as an important location for fashion-led retail and will be home to an enhanced Fashion Museum and anchor fashion uses. There will be space for events and festivals and workspace provision complemented by the food and drink offer of George Street to the north and retail to the south.
Broad Street Yards will be home to new build contemporary space for the creative industries, workspace and visitor accommodation in the former King Edward’s School, better connecting Milsom Street
St Michael’s Neighbourhood will become a growing residential neighbourhood for Bath with new development and conversions of upper floors supporting a range of local shopping and amenities at ground floor level. A new public square will also be created in front of St Michael’s Church.
Walcot Street Gateway will provide an improved entrance to Walcot Street with a new frontage to the street and the redevelopment of the Cattle Market site for housing. and Broad Street.
Throughout the master plan area, various projects will aim to make the area more sustainable, for example by greening streets and spaces by planting trees and rain gardens, as seen in the Broad Street Place enhanced pocket park, through to energy strategies including retrofitting existing buildings, renewable energy capture and using net-zero carbon design principles.
Priority will be given to people by creating improved public spaces and streets including a new square at St Michael’s Church and pedestrianizing Green Street and lower Broad Street.
Walking, cycling and public transport will be prioritised whilst still maintain vehicular access where needed. Loading, deliveries and servicing will be facilitated outside core hours.
B&NES want you to have your say in how we shape the future of our city.”
To take part and give your views on our proposals head to https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/milsom-quarter/milsom-quarter
Wow. Well, there you are.
It’s a lot to take in but for me, developing the Cattle Market site is a priority. Creating a new Fashion Museum will be good for Bath and getting back control of the old KES School would please many people.
Reblogged this on Walk Ride Bath and commented:
Really great find by Richard. The video is worth watching although the graphic at 4:45 is key. The key to making Milsom Street a great space is solving the conundrum of Park and Ride buses using Milsom Street and the only way I could solve that was by making Broad Street two way for buses with a drop off outside the Hilton. Also there seems to be a disconnect between the commitment to develop a circulation plan for the city, the 4 cells concept, and this video. Walk Ride Bath’s Living Heart (https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1t4w2_XqQ640pfxUfMrIp_Hytry6z1FOxXmfgQ611MfA/edit?usp=drivesdk) developed over years with multiple inputs from many many people is a masterplan for the whole city centre, not just the Milsom Quarter. If you’re going to try and fix Milsom Street you need a masterplan for the city centre first to provide the necessary context. This feels like council departments are going off and doing their own thing without talking to each other. Admittedly they have given themselves 20 years to get this right but I could see this wrecking the critical circulation plan for the city. It might be worth having the officers involved in developing this have a read through the Journey to Net Zero documents https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/journey-net-zero
Why not run Park & Ride buses between two sites, e.g. Lansdown to Newbridge? That way they don’t need to turn around in the City Centre. Drop off and pick up in George Street so both Broad Street and Milsom Street can be P&R buses-free.