Towards Sharing Space

The Market Place circa 1960

Lavenham Parish Council 2021

Introduction

The Parish Council is now consulting with all residents, business owners, societies and where possible visitors, on topics highlighted in our Neighbourhood Plan, adopted in 2016.

1. The Market Place – A better place for community & leisureSince Lavenham’s Market Charter was granted in 1257, the footprint of the Village and its infrastructure has evolved. Each generation has left its mark by introducing new features to meet the changing needs of the people who live and work here. In more recent times, many visitors come to enjoy Lavenham’s past and they contribute significantly to the economy of our Village. Local Lavenham businesses generate annually, approximately £500,000 in business rates and over 300 people are employed directly in tourism.

Tourism is central to Babergh District Council’s growth plans within the emerging Joint Local Plan and Lavenham fits within Suffolk County Council’s strategy as primarily a heritage destination. Suffolk’s tourism industry during 2017 witnessed its biggest growth for a decade and this is likely to grow further in the next few years arising from the Covid 19 pandemic.

The Market Place is home to Little Hall and the Great House, two of the oldest buildings in Lavenham, dating back to circa 1390. At its core is The Guildhall of Corpus Christi. Over many years the Market Place as somewhat lost its focus as the centre of the Village. During 2020, temporary arrangements were implemented to enable social distancing. This created the opportunity for greater pedestrian comfort on the north side. In turn this has led to focusing on how the south side in front of the Guildhall might be developed, to improve the ambience around this jewel of a medieval building and provide a safe open space for all to enjoy.

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The Neighbourhood Plan 2016 recognised the importance of car parking in the Village centre and confirmed that a reduction in parking capacity in the Market Place, would have to be accompanied by alternative replacement arrangements. The contrast in the Market Place, between 1960 and 2020, could not be more marked, as demonstrated between the photograph on the front cover and the contemporary aerial image shown below in Image 1.

The proposal is not to return to 1960 but to create a shared space environment, which will provide:

• Safe pedestrian access to shops, including motorised mobility aids • Open space with increased seating for all to enjoy• Natural colour, using planters with seasonal foliage and flowers• Greater exposure, explanation and protection of The Market Cross• An appropriate visual experience of the Guildhall exterior • Improved parking arrangements

The proposal will require an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order. If implemented, the scheme will be on a trial basis for 18 months. During this period, suitable signage will be used to politely discourage parking and guide drivers and pedestrians to the experimental arrangements. The areas will be divided using non-permanent planters & benches. This gives the opportunity for amendments to be made to the scheme during the trial period, to achieve the best pedestrian access and traffic management systems. A representation of how this may look is shown in Image 2 below.

Image 1

In March 2020, an informal arrangement was introduced to enable social distancing for customers visiting shops and this appears to have worked well. It is proposed that this arrangement is continued.

Image 2

The North Side

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In front of The Angel Hotel, access would be retained for emergency services, large delivery vehicles and refuse collection, by reversing from the corner of Market Lane and Prentice Street. No change is proposed in front of the Great House or Little Hall.

The East Side

Appropriately delineated parking spaces for 10 vehicles will be created on the north side with single access only from the central road. On the south side, a further 11 spaces will be retained, with single access only from the central road.

The Centre (Market Lane)

In front of the Guildhall, the public highway would be limited to a 3m access only gap from Lady Street for emergency service vehicles, deliveries to the National Trust and other authorised vehicles. Parking in front of the Guildhall will be withdrawn.

The central area, bordered by parking from the central road and the USAF War Memorial will be designated as Open Space. A barrier will be created between parked vehicles and the Open Space, with an array of 1m square planters, bench seating and litter bins. The occasional licensed trader will also set down in this space. This will provide a much needed leisure space for residents and visitors and make it safer for customers of licensed traders.

The South Side

Spaces for 4 vehicles is proposed on the western side of Lady Street as it joins The Market Place.

The West Side

Prior to 2020, there were generally 34 vehicle spaces in the Market Place excluding those immediately outside The Great House. On occasions, less than the optimum number was available due to various parking combinations, including encroaching onto the highway at the northern side thereby blocking access for vehicles and pedestrians.

The proposal reduces the parking spaces to 29:

• 10 - north side of Market Lane.

• 11 - south side of Market Lane.

• 4 - Lady Street.

• 4 – east side, across the road from The Great House.

The reduction of 5 spaces has already been offset by the re-development of Prentice Street Car Park which has increased from 18 spaces to 24. Elsewhere in the Village, the Church Street Car Park is likely to need attention in the next few years and this will provide the opportunity to review they layout and spaces available in that location. Plans for the creation of a new car park in Water Street, are progressing and this will provide a further 22 spaces including 2 EV charging points.

The layout of the Market Place will be agreed with Suffolk county Council via a Traffic Regulation Order.

Impact of the Proposal

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2. The Market CrossThe Market Cross has been in place since 1502 and deserves to be more prominently displayed and protected. Signage explaining its origin will be improved and the monument will be protected by surrounding it with a low level post and picket screen.

3. Pavement ParkingThe law as it stands, is that in Greater London pavement parking is prohibited. Elsewhere in England, pavement parking is permissible unless it is specifically prohibited by a local authority via a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).

The convention in Lavenham is, where appropriate, pavement parking is acceptable, providing:

• Pedestrians and pavement users are not impeded by parked vehicles causing an obstruction.

• Sight lines from feeder roads to the main highway are not obscured by parked vehicles.

Legislation is currently making its way through Parliament that may extend the London scenario to the rest of the country. There is no timescale for this at present but if it does come about, in Lavenham, we would rather prevent obstructive pavement parking, by means other than enforcement procedures.

There are a number of ‘hot spots’ in the Village where people have been put at risk by in-appropriate pavement parking. The people most affected are partially sighted pedestrians, people using wheelchairs & motorised mobility aids and those pushing child buggies.

To alleviate this tension and create shared space, the Council propose measures via a Street Furniture License to enable safe pedestrian move-ment within the Village. In most locations, it is proposed to install 1m planters at the pavement edge. This will add to year-round colour al-ready evident in front of many buildings. Fixed bollards are proposed where the pavement is considered too narrow to safely accommodate a planter and pedestrians.

The ’hot spots’ that have been identified are marked with a black dot on the map on the next page.

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Location Rationale

Planter 37 Market Place To ensure clear sight lines for traffic turning right from Market Lane to Lady Street

Planter 11 High Street To avoid obstruction of pavement

Planter 6 High Street/Corner with Hall Road

To ensure clear sight lines for traffic exiting Hall Road

Planter 9 Lady Street To avoid obstruction of pavement

Planter 9 Church Street To avoid obstruction of pavement

Planter 41 High Street To avoid obstruction of the pavement close to the dropped kerb

4 Fixed Bollards 34 and 35 Church Street

To ensure clear sight lines for traffic entering and exiting Church Street Car Park

The Parish Council are keen to hear your views.

Two opportunities to meet with Councillors will be held in the open-air at Market Place on:

Thursday 20th May 6pm to 7.30pmSunday 23rd May 2pm to 4pm

Due to national restrictions on public gatherings, the format of these consultations is a ‘shop-front’ i.e. you will be able to discuss the proposals individually with Councillors. Social distancing will be observed.

You can also email comments to

lavenhampc@yahoo.co.uk

Or write to:

Clerk to the CouncilJane L Bellward 13 Weavers CloseLavenham CO10 9QN

The closing dates for comments by post or email 28th May 2021.

4. Your ViewsMap

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Printed by The Lavenham Press

Published by Lavenham Parish Council

Thank you!