THE ARC PLAN May 2018
INTRODUCTION Sovereign Housing Association has commissioned Artecology to create a set of management and design options for The Arc in Ryde. The objectives of this work are: • •
To find ways to improve the value of The Arc, and the environment it offers, to the community it serves. To find ways to build a greater sense of responsibility and positive engagement in The Arc from its users and visitors.
These two objectives are closely interconnected, one feeding the other. The intention is to create a virtuous circle between people and place.
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The Arc is a large block of open space owned by Sovereign Housing Association. It comprises 1.3 Ha of woodland on the east bank of the Monkton Brook and Island Line, and 0.4 Ha of urban playspace accessed from Slade Road, Brook Road and Nicholson Road. The two areas are connected across public right of way R54 (bridleway). The Arc is 1.25 km from the Ryde coast. Play Space
Riparian Woodland
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Bridleway R54
LANDSCAPE CONTEXT
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The Arc includes one of the largest blocks of natural stream channel in the Monkton Brook catchment. To the north it is canalised alongside the railway, and to the south it opens into farmland and becomes fragmented.
The 500m of Arc watercourse is set within unmanaged willow and alder woodland and represents an important area of ‘nonintervention’ within the heavily modified green infrastructure of the Oakfield and St. John's corridor. The Arc’s wet woodland, floodplain and freshwater habitats create an important buffer between the Swanmore Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation, the Pig Leg Lane nature reserve, and the Oakfield, Elmfield and Oakvale urban residential and industrial estates.
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It is important to consider the relationship between these sites and to increase, through positive management, the likelihood of species moving between them. This will add resilience to the ecology of the Monkton ‘greenway’ and increase the chances for wildlife encounter within The Arc and in the gardens and open spaces of the surrounding area.
The Arc’s riverside woodland is classified as a priority habitat, connecting with the Swanmore woodlands and floodplain meadows to create on of the largest contiguous blocks of semi-natural habitat and lowland landscape in the urban belt of south Ryde. The Arc woodland, together with its stream ecology, is of local and county importance. Positive site management therefore has a significant ecological importance. This will be a mix of non-intervention, perpetuating the natural processes of growth and decay, and intervention for enhanced public enjoyment from controlled and managed access.
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The Arc is set within a group of 15 public, or shared open spaces within a radius of 1 km. This forms an important node within the green infrastructure network of south Ryde, providing greenspace, connected in the main by public rights of way and each less than 500m from the next. This distribution of accessible spaces surrounding The Arc, all within the ‘human exploratory distance’ of 500m is an essential part of its value. Effective waymarking and orientation, collaboration between Arc managers and key landowner/manager neighbours (Southern Housing, Isle of Wight Council, Gift to Nature, Island Line, Environment Agency) can deliver a network of more or less adventurous recreation for those starting at the Arc itself. In this way the Arc can be seen as the centre of a hub of connected spaces linking neighbourhoods and communities.
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COMMUNITY CONTEXT
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The Arc is set within a community that is amongst the 20% most deprived in the UK, as measured against a basket of health and socio-economic indicators. The value of high-quality, free and accessible public greenspace, for play, recreation, escape and discovery, is firmly established in NHS research and is recognised as a matter of national policy significance in the UK governments strategic 2018 guidance: ‘ A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment’. It is essential that The Arc is seen as a resource for the reduction of social stress, for the enrichment of social contact, and for the delivery of public health and wellbeing benefits. Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 8
The Arc falls within an area ranked within the 10% most deprived for income deprivation affecting children. The role of natural playspace, access to nature, wildlife encounter and safe exploration in offering young people restorative ‘habitat’ is well documented. The design, management and maintenance of The Arc should reflect its potential value in supporting a functioning Neighbourhood, for Sovereign, Southern and others. Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 9
The neighbourhood of The Arc is ranked in the UK’s 10% most deprived for education, skills and training. The 2 Ha site has the potential to provide formal and informal learning opportunity. This can be supported by content embedded in the structures of the park (interpretation, user experience etc.) and through participatory activities, clubs, events, projects and themed programmes of change that begin from The Arc site itself. Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 10
DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT
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Approved and proposed development, all or part residential, in the vicinity of The Arc. These areas represent over 1500 new homes, 3000 or more residents over the next 5-10 years. The developments around Pennyfeathers, Rosemary Vineyard and Nicholson Road will create a significant extension to the south Ryde urban fringe. These areas all share the R54 bridleway, and the Oakfield ‘greenway’ as pedestrian and cycle access into the town as well as the core route for circular recreational and commuting paths east and west of the river and railway. The Arc is therefore likely to become increasingly important as a public space, a recreational resource, and a destination point in the flow of residents and visitors within the Oakfield/Elmfield/Oakvale ‘block’.
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CONTEXT SUMMARY • • • • • •
The Arc is a combination of playspace, public thoroughfare, and wildlife habitat. This mix defines good green infrastructure and The Arc exhibits these qualities within its boundaries. The Arc is also at the centre of a landscape-scale block of green infrastructure stretching from St. John’s Hill to Ashey Lane, and Marlborough Road to Swanmore Road. It is this layering of GI value that makes The Arc so significant and gives it such potential, and responsibility, for positive management. The Arc features one of the most natural and least modified examples of stream channel and riparian woodland in the Monktonmead catchment. The Arc is set within the Oakfield neighbourhood, a district facing long-term social and economic deprivation.
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The Shaping Better Places standard has been devised by Artecology, Arc Consulting and The Common Space as a method for delivering resilient and sustainable public benefit in policy and practice. It provides a method for place-based regeneration work, using the existing assets in public space, community and business as a foundation for positive change.
The three sections of the standard are set out and applied to The Arc project, based on the site context summarised:
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1.
Building Natural Capital Use the new architecture of ecological design and bioreceptive materials to make healthy, high quality and distinctive living and working environments. Rewild planted and landscaped space to combine beautiful natural displays with life-cycle resources for urban biodiversity. Patch the built environment with biological hot-spots, spreading a network of accumulating ecological gain. Make physical and biological connections between the 3 urban infrastructures, green, grey and blue, to improve the urban metabolism, enhance ecological function, and build resilience to climate change.
The essential point here is that there is no need to change everything in the Arc and its surrounding shared and public space. By focussing attention on patches of intervention, connected by i) being visible, one to the next, by the people that visit and use the Arc, and ii) by concentrating useful biological resources at distances meaningful to local wildlife, delivering hotpsots of wildlife encounter and enlivening the unaltered spaces in between. The layout and geography of the Arc is perfectly suited to combining the 3 urban infrastructures, it flows naturally from the ‘grey’ of the industrial estate and residential estate, through the ‘green’ of the play area and the woodland, to the ‘blue’ of the Monkton brook and from there a short distance to the sea. By combining built and planted interventions at strategic points, where these zones change, it will be possible to combine interpretive and practical measures for a better environment. For example, positive messages about caring for the site at the upper park entrance, imaginative litter collection fixtures in the park itself, and the junction with the path, ‘Blue Planet’ messages where the woodland slopes from the path to the brook reminding users and visitors of the direct connection between litter dropped here and ocean plastic just 1.25km downstream. The heart of the natural capital investment will be an entirely new built environment, a shared space for wildlife and people.
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Positive environmental message at all entry points to the site, encouraging people to keep it clean
Litter collection points become key features in the park design and function, linking with current and future recycling and deposit schemes
Dense perimeter wildlife hedging also trapping blow rubbish within the play area making collection easier and safer
New hard landscaped surface to combine play, seating and built habitat for wildlife: a Nature Playspace
Tackling poor drainage by using it as a feature – stepping stones, inundation wetland planting
Emphasise unmodified and ‘authentic’ woodland and wetland experience by assisting informal access to the brook and by increasing the complement of ‘old’ river valley tree species
‘Source to Sea’ message connecting litter, dog fouling etc. with river and sea pollution, all real and live in the context of the Arc, Monkton Brook and Ryde seafront.
‘Edible’ landscaping throughout, combining safe fruiting shrubs, for wildlife and for people
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Reprofile concrete embankment and slope to create a Nature Playspace combining wildlife planting, constructed habitats for beetles, pollinators etc., areas to sit, climb, meet etc.
Create new routes across wet ground to improved seating groups and themed environmental interpretation and design
Proposals for new constructed features for play, safe access, interpretation and habitat creation Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 17
An Artecology design for the Nature Playspace, remodelling the sloping ground, path and sandbag wall to create an artificial rockface, with pockets of wildflower planting, sculpted habitat niches for wildlife, safe adventure play, seating and meeting. Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 18
Examples of Artecology work: natural and themed stepping stones, seating, built habitats incorporated into playspace, artificial rockwork.
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The UK government has announced plans to introduce a deposit return scheme for single-use drinks containers such as plastic, glass bottles and aluminium cans. Some countries already have similar schemes with the deposit ranging from 8p in Sweden to 22p in Germany, redeemed when the empty bottle or can is returned. Any new waste bins to be installed in the Arc could be designed to take full advantage of this initiative. The illustration shows a bin already in use in Europe that allows unreturned bottles and cans to be easily accessed by anyone who wants to claim the deposit.
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2.
Building Social Capital Make a public realm that improves the diversity and quantity of human interactions, everyday meetings and the possibilities for future positive events. Combine and connect public spaces to make legible networks for communal life. Build social life by making it easy for shared activity to happen in a public context, encouraging diverse collaboration and participation to add value to common spaces. Make public spaces into good habitats for humans by insisting that they are, in the smallest detail, life-sustaining.
The Arc exemplifies public space. The play area and woodland are freely accessible at all times and is crossed by a public footpath and bridleway.
There is therefore an important opportunity, in the review of the playspace and its surroundings, to better connect zones of activity: natural and constructed environments; residential, recreational and commercial estates; amenity greens, woodland and wetland. By strengthening the connections between the Nicholson Road commercial district, the Slade Road/Oakvale neighbourhood, footpath R52, and bringing these connections together around the play area and its surroundings, a strong sense of shared space can be created. This work encourages a diversity of interactions between people of all ages and helps to develop local routines that incorporate The Arc. A greater and more diverse presence can serve to build security and safety (less forbidding, more observers and participants) and help drive behavioural change towards a more optimistic view of the space. It becomes a place worth caring about, less prone to littering, dog-fouling and damage. Stronger social connectivity will come from clear identification of the Arc domain, by signing its junctions, entries and exits, and from full use of its peripheral areas for seating, orientation and interpretation.
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New viewpoint seat, looking west across the Monkton valley
Named entry point from Slade Road
Named entry point from Oakvale
Named entry point from Brook Close
Named entry point into the play area
New seating in the play area New seating incorporated into the embankment Named entry point from Nicholson Road
R54 Seat
Seating at Nicholson Road entrance R54 Seat
Named entry point where R54 enters the Arc woodland R54 Seat
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Arc interface with Slade Road and Oakvale communities, scope for semi-formal planting, a shared garden area, using perimeter verges, raised beds and ‘gravel garden’ xerophytes
Arc interface with R54, use orientation signage/distance markers, seating and landscaping to create a ‘rest’ spot Arc interface with Nicholson Road industrial estate, scope to create pleasing area for lunchtimes and after work, combining planting and seating.
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Examples of work by Eccleston George: faux bois seating, pyrographed natural wood bench, themed stepping stones, interpreted way-markers (milestones numbering footsteps to the sea!) and signage. Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 24
3.
Building Cultural Capital Use the skills, enterprise, and capacity already in place to build expectations for the future and sustain the value of the past. Create and extend learning networks, using information and communication technology to connect people and projects in a growing body of local knowledge. Break down the barriers between people and place by establishing relevance; provoking attention by capturing imagination. Utilise the distinctive cultural purposes of a place: its scientific, recreational, aesthetic and inspirational values, the imprint of human personality upon it.
The Arc and its surroundings already have their distinctive own character, history and content: its woodland and wetland wildlife, the natural, meandering form of the Monkton Brook, the life and work of architect Thomas Hellyer, the headquarters of Liz Earle, the work of Sovereign and Southern housing associations, the story of the railway, and so on. Each of these elements can be incorporated into the experience of the Arc, and into the resource that it offers its users and visitors. This can be through interpreted viewpoints that tie the place to its landscape heritage, through landscape theming that can spread into the surrounding areas, and through opportunities for participation and collaboration that strengthen its purpose and use.
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Interpreted viewpoint across the western ‘timeline’: old field layout, railway, Hellyer’s All Saints spire
Themes of edible landscaping and environmental care spread out from The Arc and into the shared spaces of the Sovereign estate – a common palette
Common space with opportunities for participation and collaboration in the creation of a shared garden, evolving and changing with the population it serves Common space where the different parts of the local community people can meet at The Arc: Liz Earle, Sovereign offices, Sovereign tenants, Southern tenants etc.
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Using the environment of The Arc to develop exploration, curiosity, learning and training opportunities... Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 27
A healthy place inspiring people to live healthy lives! Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 28
The Arc Plan A summary of themes and areas
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Gateways These are entry points into The Arc from its boundaries. By marking these, with the name of the place in a distinctive style, and a positive message about environmental quality and care, there is a sense of significance established. This, with the evidence of positive works underway, can help to shift behaviour in The Arc’s users and visitors, to become more engaged, optimistic and responsible towards the site and what it has to offer them.
Signage can be combined with seating and landscaping, grouped or physically integrated, to create combinations of impact. A single reference plant can be incorporated each time, a species consistent with the riparian woodland habitat but which has general amenity value too and so can be used to extend the Arc’s identity into neighbouring residential and commercial spaces. A suitable choice is guelder rose.
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Hard and Soft Landscaping Artificial rock playspace with integral wildlife habitat features; stepping stone tracks across boggy areas planted with silverweed; continuous perimeter hedge with hawthorn, guelder rose, field rose, honeysuckle.
Oakvale path verges, leading to viewpoint and Arc entrance, planted with lavender, rosemary, strawberry, sweet woodruff, yellow archangel, bugle.
Knotweed treatment zone replanted with guelder rose, crab apple, pear, alder buckthorn, willow, elder, undersown with hedgerow/woodland seedmix.
Wet woodland areas left unmanaged other than planting of occasional black poplar and small-leaved lime in available spaces.
Patches and groups of planting, linked to seating, red currant, dogwood, guelder rose, crab apple. Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 31
Meeting Places Arc-Nicholson Road: new seating, edible planting with apple, pear, red currant, strawberry, and guelder rose.
Arc-R54: new seating, edible planting with apple, pear, red currant, black currant and guelder rose.
Arc-Oakvale-Slade Road: communal garden to evolve according to local participation but with a base ‘starter’ of apple, pear, guelder rose around perimeter, lined with lavender, mint, sedum, thrift, sea campion.
Western Viewpoint: new seating group, planting with strawberry, sweet woodruff, mint, lavender.
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ARC WORK PROGRAMME 2018 - 2021 • • • • • • • • •
Build central nature playspace, connecting stepping stone across boggy sections, new seating groups within the play area, at the Nicholson Road meeting point and at the shared verge with R54. Strengthen and complete the perimeter hedgerow around the play area with wildlife foodplants. Sign/name the 6 gateways + signature planting. Install first generation of new litter bins/recycling points. Revive the Sovereign tree nursery and stock with the ‘people and wildlife’ plants specified in the report. Install the western viewpoint with associated gateway landscaping. Set out the first perimeter planting of the community garden (mark the circle). Add seating+planting hotspots along R54 from the play area meeting verge to the southern gateway, approximately every 100m. First planting out of the knotweed control area (only if ‘signed off’).
These features can all be put in place as first steps or basic interventions, Arc 1.0. The key thing is to then deliver annual upgrades to Arc 2.0, 3.0 and so on. This need only be the addition of a few more plants, an extra seat, a new sign or waymarker, and not necessarily at every action location. v2.0 might focus just on the litter collection, adding new ideas and technology to the deposit recycling as national policy rolls out, v3.0 might focus solely on the evolution of the community garden, v3.0 on the R54 rest stops, and so on. The key is visible annual change, however small.
Alongside this steady enrichment of The Arc environment, for people and for wildlife, there should be at least one day a year, The Arc Day, when there is a collective and collaborative celebration of the place. This would be led by Sovereign and invite Sovereign tenants and staff, Southern tenants and staff, Liz Earle and other local businesses, Gift to Nature and Island Rivers (from managed greenspace west of the railway and river), and would take place in the February half-term. The advantage of this timing is that it allows for tree and shrub planting, a spring-clean of the whole site ready for the year ahead, a sense of optimism and expectancy about what The Arc will be in the coming year. If this is formalised as a reliable date in the local calendar, it will build into a significant event for re-establishing contacts, meeting friends, neighbours and colleagues, participating together (as owners, tenants, users and visitors) in shaping a better place. Artecology Ltd | May 2018 | 33
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