Vote for proposals to transform Ann Street and Providence Place Gardens
Five schemes have been shortlisted from 38 proposals from architects, desgners, artists and events specialist to transform the area around Ann Street and Providence Place Gardens – the small park opposite St Bartholomew’s Church – into a lively, safe and successful public space.
They are competing for a €50,000 (roughly £45,500) commission to design and implement a pilot project. If it is successful, more money will be made available to make the changes permanent.
Designs from Dallas Pierce Quintero, Philip Cave Associates, PiP Partnership, Plan Projects and Sustrans will be on show in the Pelham Street reception of City College on 9 May from 9am to 5pm and in Providence Place Gardens on 11 May from 9am to 4pm and 12 May from 10am to 4pm. You can also view them online.
Elements include food growing, making St Barts a more integral part of the space, art installations, terracing, a drop-in café, a contemporary bandstand, mosaics and The best community street party ever.
Feedback and the results of a public vote will be reported to a selection panel, which will make a decision at the end of May.
Creating lively cities
The project is part of the EU-assisted Lively Cities programme, which aims to strengthen communities by reclaiming public space for public use. Brighton & Hove City Council successfully applied for European Regional Development Funding with partner city Eindhoven. (Incidentally, the hove part of the Dutch city’s name means a parcel of land, while our Hove is thought to mean a shelter).
The Planning Projects Team (PPT) gave budding landscapers a head start with a site assessment report.
Among the findings:
• On an average weekday, 3,700 pedestrians use Ann Street
• 18 per cent of travel through the area is by car, six per cent by bicycle and the rest on foot
• The most popular activities in the street and gardens are socialising in groups, smoking, eating and/or having a drink and using phones to talk and/or text
• Lots of people use the area as a short cut, while locals sit and relax or exercise their dogs
• Anti-social behaviour deters some people from using the area – drink and drugs are seen as problems
• Around 800 people a week go to St Bartholomew’s Church and would like to see better links between the building and the park – the Regency Society is keen that any new scheme complements this magnificent building
Above: Providence Place Gardens today
Below: St Bartholomew's Church across the gardens
Pictures courtesy of Brighton & Hove City Council
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