The first round of public engagement has just ended on the redevelopment of the shopping precinct and a follow up is planned for the autumn. The information available at the moment can be found here: onechorlton.co.uk
We encouraged our members (if they agreed) to include under the questionnaire’s Other Suggestions the idea of creating a much more connected pedestrianised public space by promoting the idea of creating a new square at the end of Nicolas Road with the two sites developed in tandem.
At the Members Meeting on 26 May 2021 a number of members raised their concerns about outside interests of members that could potentially conflict with those of the CLT.
The CLT Board takes the matter of Board member’s interests seriously and has the following measures in place to ensure that the highest standards of probity are maintained.
The Chorlton CLT Board met to discuss our position on the question of closing Longford Road as part of the Cycle Lane plans. The CLT has a direct interest in the Co-op Funeralcare building and has floated the idea previously of closing Nicolas Road in order to extend the outdoor space and to create a larger pedestrianised area linking into the precinct. Below is an illustration which gives a sense of our vision.
Image: Editional Studio
We believe the closure of Nicolas Road would create a bigger dividend for more people as it would create a genuinely valuable space that connects the school and library to the precinct in a car free zone and could be used for markets, outdoor gatherings and on street eating/drinking, and open up public realm improvement opportunities which could enhance the local environment and attract more footfall to the heart of Chorlton.
Our proposal would be to experiment with an initial closure of Nicolas Road using planters from the junction of Manchester Road to the car park entrance as shown. This would quickly create a new public space at the heart of Chorlton that we would like to encourage local businesses, groups and residents to use as the weather improves and we await widespread vaccine in the first part of 2021. Three immediate opportunities could then be explored:
The monthly Makers Market would immediately have a more socially distanced space to operate within.
Oswald Road School’s distanced queueing arrangement at school start up time could have more space to work with.
New meanwhile uses that test the market for food stalls and occasional performances that are proposed for the future redevelopment of the Picture House.
If successful, we would aim longer term for a permanent solution in the context of the wider redevelopment of the precinct and access requirements of the medical centre.
We appreciate that part of the rationale for selecting Longford Road may be to reduce cars doing school runs to St Johns, however we cannot see that the closure will materially reduce the number of trips; parents concerned about their children’s safety are not likely to drop their children outside the library to walk the last part. They are instead likely to drive up one of the other roads to get to the school gates. To help ease this ongoing challenge, one of the emerging use ideas for The Picture House could be a breakfast club and drop off for the two schools. This would allow children to be safely dropped off in the morning and walked into school by volunteer parents and staff; we believe this could have a much bigger material impact on car journeys in the morning.
Ultimately there may be a case to close both Nicolas and Longford Road, however the plan right now is to experiment with one closure and to learn lessons on its impact. Our strong preference is to experiment with Nicolas Road in the first instance and to then consider Longford Road once lessons have been learnt.
In September 2019, Chorlton CLT was one of sixteen community land trusts to be awarded a share of £329,000 to strengthen their membership base and be champions of inclusivity, equality and diversity.
In February of this year we baselined how well Chorlton CLT reflected our local community of Chorlton and Chorlton Park wards, and posted the results from that survey in July.
Following our first AGM in October we asked all our members to complete the same simple anonymous survey, to give us data which could be directly compared with the 2011 census data for our local area. Thanks to everyone who responded.
In February 2020 members of the CLT were invited to a consultation workshop to discuss the benefits they would like to see from the Picture House project. Their contributions were grouped within 4 themes – ‘Strength of community’, ‘Health and wellbeing’, ‘The building and the environment’ and ‘Jobs and the local economy’. This enabled a set of social value outcomes to be developed for each theme.
In June 2020 the Chorlton CLT Board initiated a Governance review which was carried out by The Greater Manchester Community Led Housing Hub. The work was undertaken by the Hub Interim Director, Tom Hopkins in the period June – August 2020.
The overall aim is to ensure that the CLT board is fit for purpose and has a clear plan for actions to take forward.
Our first AGM is confirmed for 7.30pm on Thursday 22nd October, to be held virtually so you can join from the comfort of your own home. Formal notification will be sent out to members nearer the time but please save the date for now.
In September 2019, Chorlton CLT was one of sixteen community land trusts to be awarded a share of £329,000 to strengthen their membership base and be champions of inclusivity, equality and diversity.
Polly Adams-Felton, Project Manager at the National CLT Network, said:
