A good point about the lack of co-ordination of usage in the city centre...
AREAS JUST BEYOND THE CITY CENTRE
The North East - Frog Island and All Saint's - many old and empty warehouses, in need of a total revamp. The site is cut off from the city centre by the ring road.
- Immediately beyond this area are Woodgate, Fosse Road North and New Parks areas. Not generally prosperous.
- Between the city centre and Frog Island the Highcross dominates. The success of the Highcross has not expanded out to Frog Island, due largely to a worldwide recession and the collapse of planned waterside developments.
Best Suggestion - use the Highcross to spread developments out toward Frog Island. A light rail solution is needed to solve Leicester's transport problems and the former Central Station would make a great transport hub. The empty warehouses are obvious choices for new housing.
The North - St Margaret's - again a lot of old warehouse space, including the massive Corah's site. There are a lot of offices in this area and the site is cut off from the rest of the city centre by a multi-lane ring road.
- Immediately beyond the area is the large Abbey Park and the planned Science Park and residential developments.
- Between the city centre and St Margaret's the Bus Station dominates. Churchgate is full of small mainly independent retailers. There are also many bars along the street. The architecture in the area is largely low in quality.
Best Suggestion - leisure facilities would be best placed in this area. There is much poor archiecture, so most replacements would look nicer anyway. There is a massive opportunity to redevelop land between Belgrave Gate and the Bus Station.
The North East - St Matthew's - a large mid-rise council estate built in the 1950's and 1960's. Cut off from the rest of the city centre by the ring road. An area of high deprivation and very poor architecturally. The location and characteristics of St Matthew's hinder investment in this part of the city. Two huge flyovers also have a negative effect on the area.
- Immediately beyond the area is Belgrave and the self-style "Golden Mile". An area that caters very much for the largely Asian population.
- Between the city centre and St Matthew's is the "Belgrave Triangle", which is easily the least successful and ugliest part of the city centre.
Best Suggestion - in a ideal world, get rid of St Matthew's. It has outlived its sell by date and needs replacing with either leisure facilities or some high quality family homes. The Belgrave Triangle has some appalling architecture and needs a complete revamp.
The West - Riverside and Castle - the oldest part of the city, cruely carved up by the creation of the ring road a few decades ago. Large parts of the riverside are empty, where old buildings have been demolished for failed new developments. The Castle and Newarke are separated from the rest of the city centre, by the ring road - though considerable efforts have been put in place to lessen the impact at The Magazine.
- Immediately beyond the area is Tudor Road and the West End, including the bars and restaurants along Braunstone Gate.
- Between the city centre and the Riverside and Castle are Greyfriars's and the Cathedral. Both areas are woefully underused and full to the brim with character, history and great architecture. Of all the areas in the city centre, this is the place with most potential and would provide a link between the city centre, DMU and Braunstone Gate.
Best Suggestion - change the use of Greyfriar's and also encourage linkage developments along the ring road.
The South West - De Montfort University, Leicester Royal Infirmary and LCFC/LTRFC - an area of large institutions and sports teams. In the past it also contained Granby Halls and nearer to the city centre is the City Council HQ.
- Immediately beyond the area, all the major residential areas are quite a distance away. There is Freeman's Meadows and the terraces behind the LRI, but the bulk of the residential population is DMU students in purpose built Halls.
- between the city centre and this part of town are the Welford Road and Newarke Street areas. They have no specific purpose and multi-usage.
Best Suggestion - hard to come up with a new use for the area. Big organisations and sports teams dominate. De Montfort House does most to ruin the area. Its replacement and some of the other poor quality housing around it, would improve the area massively.
The South - New Walk and Leicester University - an area teeming with fantastic architecture and character. Nothing more to add. Should act as a template for all new development in Leicester. The area is successful for a reason!
- immediately beyond the area is Clarendon Park and Stoneygate. The former is hugely popular with professionals and the latter is amongst the richest places in the region.
- between the city centre and New Walk lies Calais Hill. There are offices in the area, but there is also a lot of underused old warehouses. The area lies between New Walk, Granby Street and Belvoir Street.
Best suggestion - Calais Hill is ideally suited for residential use. There are already a lot of flats in the area. Personally, if pipe dreams are permitted, I would opt of a major new retail complex to counterbalance the Highcross!
The South East - Railway Station - an area of offices and a planned new Business Quarter.
- immediately beyond this area is London Road and the older parts of Highfields. Some great architecture and multi-usage including retail, reaturants and bars.
- between the city centre and the Railway Station is Granby Street. Partly a very good street, but also suffering with empty properties.
Best suggestion - the Business Quarter would really help the area. However St George's Tower has failed to attract any new business; beside a hotel. The Highcross pulls trade way from this area, so a retail hub would be very welcome to counterbalance.
The East - St George's Retail Park - when the land became available for this, right next to the train line - there was an opportunity to provide a great leisure complex. Now we have a retail park, cut off from the rest of the city centre by the ring road and a huge roundabout.
- immediately beyond this area is the train line and the rest of Highfields. High levels of deprivation and a lack of connectivity with the city centre.
- between the city centre and St George's Retail Park lies the Cultural Quarter.
Best Suggestion - it is hoped that the Cultural Quarter will springboard further development in the area. A lot of new apartment buildings have sprung up in recent years.
In summary connectivity and underuse are the main issues for Leicester. Large parts of the fringes around LE1 need to be connected to the city centre for success. Large areas of the city centre are woeful and need something to springboard them back to life.
Where this is most necessary is in the north of the city. Frog Island, St Margaret's and St Matthew's are major failures in the life of Leicester. Until they are tackled, Leicester will continue to under-perform. This is a matter of urgency for the city!!!
Seriously this part of the city needs a complete rebuild. The Leicester Regeneration Company didn't even give consideration to the area. There was some suggestion of family homes in St George's North, but that always appeared a miscalculation. Instead the LRC concentrated efforts far off in the north, beyond Abbey Park!
Greyfriar's needs an overhaul to start recovery in the west and to help re-establish the Old Town. This should be the home of small high quality retailers, bars and eateries - to complement The Lanes and St Martin's. Further west, the riverside needs to kick into action.
The South of the city is OK.
Hopefully the east will re-emerge with the Cultural Quarter as the years go by?
Unless we sort the fringes of the city centre out, the inner part will always remain disjointed and will under-perform. We need far more leisure facilties, a greater spread of retail, better transport, a postive attitude towards historic areas and a more pleasant urban fabric. In turn civic pride will increase and investment is attracted to local loyality and aesthtic surroundings.
Leicester needs a Task Force and a VERY strong Elected Mayor!
