Table Of ContentThe Association of
Municipal Engineers
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
29 June - 2 July 1992
Chester
ISBN: 978-0-7277-4373-2
© The Association of Municipal Engineers, 1992, unless otherwise stated.
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CONTENTS
Securing The Future Of Our Town Centres
New Powers For Managing On-Street Parking
Sorting Out The Buses
Traffic Calming
The Widening Role Of The Water Companies
Building For The Future
Training Members For Policy Making And Officers
For Business And Service Management
The Planning Route-Graduate Trainees In The WS Atkins
Transportation Planning Consultancy
Toll Roads: A Solution Or A Problem
Future Information Technology And Highway Management
Environmental Change And Its Impact On The Coast
Planning The Coastal Zone
Monitoring And Management Of Shorelines
Public Services To Be Proud About: Improving The
Existing - Aiming For The Best: Deciding Who Delivers
- Effective Choice For Clients
The Case For Consultants
The Case For In-House
Five Loaves And Two Fishes - The Local Government
Miracle Of The 1990s
Local Government Review Roles And Structures
Local Government Reorganisation The Management Of Change
“Instant Success Takes Time” The Citizens Charter -
Putting Theory Into Practice
Abstract For Publication “What Does The Customer
Really Want?”
Managing Town Centres: Upgrading, Managing
& Funding The Old To Compete With The New
Peter Middleton, BA MRTPI Director of
Project Development, L&R Leisure PLC
Abstract
This paper looks at how the principles of management used in modern in-town
and out-of-town shopping centres, visitor attractions and theme parks can
be applied, in part, to the management of town and city centres.
The management of a "closed system" like Sheffield's Meadowhall may be
complex, but it is much easier than managing a diverse "open system" - the
typical town centre, for example.
Peter Middleton will draw on his company's extensive experience of town
centre management to illustrate how consumers' view what the professionals
often miss. He will also talk about adapting "closed system" management
techniques to the "ordinary" town centre.
Drawing on examples as diverse as Windsor; Castlefield, Manchester and
downtown Philadelphia, USA, he will challenge some of the present
orthodoxies and offer some thoughts on how to help the old compete
successfully with the new.
L&R Leisure PLC has offices in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Belfast.
For further information please contact Peter Middleton on 051 227 3252 or
write to him at L&R Leisure PLC, 329 Royal Liver Building, Pier Head,
Liverpool L3 1JH.
SECURING THE FUTURE OP OUR TOWN CENTRES
D.R. PIGG, B.Sc,MSc,C.Kng,MICE,MBIM,
Chief Engineer, South Tyneside MBC
IWHJUHJCTIOE
When I was asked to give this paper the suggested title was
"Managing Town Centres - making and keeping them safe,
secure, sound and friendly". This is rather a long title but
had the advantage of providing a brief for the paper,
suggesting a recipe approach to mixing the various
ingredients that our town centres require in order to secure
a prosperous future. After giving this further thought, and
taking into account the marked rise in property related crime
figures, I decided to entitle the paper "Securing the future
of our town centres" and to include a substantial element on
security considerations.
Teamwork and partnership are the keys to progress in the
complex town centre environment; teamwork within the local
authority between engineers, landscape architects and
planners; and partnership with the private sector. Two
things that I quickly learned during my period with an urban
development corporation, were not to give engineers
environmental works briefs without insisting that they work
with a landscape architect, and not to give landscape
architects contract works briefs without insisting that they
work with an engineer as project manager. As for the
planners, they provide many ideas but need the engineer to
provide the momentum for implementation.
In my experience the private sector are always willing
participants until the subject of financial contributions is
mentioned. This is especially true in our town centres where
numerous landlord/tenant relationships exist, a problem that
does not arise in the out of town developer led centres with
their 'single' owner and standardised management and tenancy
agreements.
The challenge for the Municipal Engineer is to bridge this
gap between the private and public sector, differentiating
ourselves from private sector consultants by focusing on the
unique access that we have to our customers. This strategy,
however, requires a greater understanding of our customer
perceptions which are rarely focused on pure engineering
issues. The trend towards Unitary Authorities will markedly
increase the social dimension of a municipal engineers work,
switching the strategic focus of many of us from the city
centre to the town centre.
This paper presents some views of the future which the
municipal engineer can influence and concludes with a case
study into the last 20 years of development in Bakersfield,
California. Bakersfield may well present a vision of the
future for many of our larger towns.
Pigg 2
STREET LIGHTING
The benefits of night time exterior lighting now extend far
beyond the simple experiences of pleasantness, amenity and
the stimulation of an attractively lit nightscape. Increases
in the incidences of crime and anti-social activities in the
town centres have emphasised the pressing need for improved
amenity, safety and security for which street lighting has
traditionally played an important part.
The maze of streets in the older parts of many towns with
their quaint daylit lanes and shops tucked down winding
cobbled streets, take on a darker more threatening spectre at
night for women and other vulnerable people. Bus stations,
car parks, subways, routes through parks, open land to nearby
houses and flats are the kinds of places that people find
themselves taking risks to get to where they need to be. The
most vulnerable repeatedly fall victim to verbal and physical
street attacks, often with only the most serious ever being
reported.
The basic objectives of outdoor lighting are to promote
safety and security at night, enhance appreciation and
enjoyment of the surroundings and, by giving a sense of
belonging, help people to relax. This is important in town
centres that are now being given a new lease of life with
shopping malls and pedestrianised zones, the emphasis being
on increased attractiveness, coupled with safety and
security, encouraging a sense of local pride and wellbeing.
Often small amounts of light can fulfil the needs; indeed
the effects may be spoilt by having an excess. The desirable
balance between the various lit areas is a matter of
subjective judgement rather than engineering expertise; an
appreciation of the visual effects called for both on a large
scale and when lighting individual features. The best
results are usually achieved when individual schemes are co
ordinated with the lighting plan for a whole district, and
when the designer is able to collaborate closely throughout a
project with the Architect, Landscape Architect, Consulting
or Municipal Engineer and the client. By selective lighting,
the unattractive can be played down or eliminated, whilst
attractive features can be emphasised.
Lighting equipment when not concealed must be acceptable as
part of the street-scene by daylight. For example, on
occasions this may influence the spacing and height of
columns to maintain the scale and visual quality of the
environment, or the decision to mount fittings on facades in
order to dispense with columns which may be intrusive.
TOWN CENTRE SECURITY
In the north east, we have recently experienced a surge in
ramraiding. The criminals originally used cars to ram their
way into shops with a back-up fast car for their escape.
More recently they have moved onto the use of heavy goods
Pigg 3
vehicles to smash their way through the walls of buildings.
Ramraiders cause massive damage in relation to the value of
goods that they steal, an expensive mix that forces up
retailers insurance premiums and pressurises councils to
allow a palisade of bollards in the High Street.
In Hexham town centre, Northumberland, crime has been cut
by 12% (November 1991) since two closed-circuit television
cameras, linked to the local police station, were installed
in April 1991. Traders, who paid more than half the £22,000
start up costs are delighted with the reduction in vandalism,
rowdyism and theft. Other northern towns are now considering
the installation of CCTV systems in their town centres eg.
Morpeth, Berwick and Alnwick, in association with their
Chambers of Commerce. Within my own authority. South
Tyneside MBC, plans are well advanced for a local authority
based monitoring system as described below.
Newport were having problems with ram raids and shop
related crime. Their problem, as with many market towns, is
that they are on the major road network between major cities.
Criminals are now very mobile, travelling out of the
conurbations to carry out criminal activities away from their
'home ground'.
Newport Chamber of Commerce is working closely with the
Police to establish a pyramid control system. If criminal
activity is suspected and the police are not present in the
vicinity, the suspecting person contacts a liaison person who
then initiates the pyramid of contacts as required. One
hundred pairs of eyes throughout the town can then be used to
help the police track and apprehend the criminal.
The main benefit of the above approaches, however, will be
to move the criminals attentions to other towns which have
not invested in street-based security measures, hence the
need for us all to be aware of these schemes.
A national campaign to improve the security of car parks is
being launched by the police in June 1992. Senior officers
believe that by improving security, lighting and layout, car
parks will be made less attractive to criminals. According
to Home Office figures one fifth of the annual one million
car crimes occurs in car parks. Figures for assaults and
robberies are much lower, but the Police are concerned at the
high level of fear of crime created by some car parks.
Closed circuit television systems
Last year, following a report on the problem of 'ram
raiders'. South Tyneside MBC gave approval for investigations
to be made into the possibility of installing remotely
controlled, retractable bollards, in the shopping precincts
of the Borough to prevent unauthorised vehicular access.
Pigg 4
Two levels of security monitoring have been studied:
Level (a) Retractable bollards which can be controlled
from a remote location with fixed T.V. cameras
monitoring the bollarded sites;
Level (b) As (a) but with additional tilt, pan and zoom,
high resolution cameras elsewhere in the
precincts so that the whole area can be covered.
The Council and Police Authority have succeeded in securing
£100,000 Urban Crime Funding for the installation of remote
controlled security bollards, together with the associated
closed circuit television monitoring, to seal off the
pedestrianised areas of South Shields town centre to all
vehicular traffic, special provision being made within the
system to allow access by delivery vehicles and emergency
services. The closed circuit television system will be
monitored by the Council's Central Control room. It is
planned to have the system operating by Christmas 1992.
South Shields Town Centre
Level (a) Retractable bollards with simple fixed CCTV
cameras could be installed, street furniture moved and the
area made very secure against unauthorised vehicle entry.
This would deter criminals and have a very positive effect on
the pedestrian environment by preventing unauthorised vehicle
access during shopping hours.
Level (b) Which is Level (a) plus additional CCTV cameras
to monitor the town centre pedestrianised areas.
The police favour the level (b) system seeing this as very
desirable and are convinced that it will have very positive
benefits in respect of crime prevention and public order,
thus increasing the confidence of the shoppers and traders
and enhancing the attractiveness of the shopping centre.
Jarrow Precinct
The refurbishment of the precinct includes gates at all of
the entrances which should preclude the need for bollards.
Without some kind of remote surveillance system the Police
believe that the precinct could prove attractive to criminals
believing that there would be no passing policeman to
apprehend them. CCTV camera systems can be programmed so
that any movement in an area can be automatically be targeted
and the control room warned.
Hebburn Precinct
For the number of times that access is needed a simple
removable bollard system, possibly operated by the toilet
attendant on a request basis, could be implemented if it is
felt that this site is vulnerable to 'ram raiders'.
Pigg 5
Level (b) monitoring is also practical and could be monitored
from South Shields or as part of the concierge system
proposed for the adjacent Council owned flats.
South Tyneside M.B.C. Central Control Roosi
Central monitoring of surveillance systems is increasing at
a rapid pace. Fire and security monitoring of Council owned
buildings are currently being linked to the Council's central
control room. The Council intend to build on their
investment in, and experience of, central monitoring as a
marketing aid to businesses within the Borough. CCTV
surveillance of car parks, pedestrianised areas, industrial
estates and the like will all be used to help attract
potential inward investors into the Borough.
Notwithstanding the above, only the police can judge the
required response to street crime and vandalism as any
intermediary would delay response times, losing the police's
confidence when false 'alarms' result.
Contribution by the Business Sector
A real opportunity exists to build on the capital
investment outlined above to include surveillance of the
street scene by means of high resolution closed circuit
televisions. A 12 hour surveillance period with continuous
monitoring by persons within the Control Room has been costed
at £45,000 at 1992 prices. The Council and Police Authority
feel confident that a 3 year grant can be achieved for this
surveillance subject to the pedestrianised area frontagers
contributing approximately £6.00 per linear metre of frontage
per annum at 1992 prices, a relatively low figure for the
benefits that could be gained from surveillance of the street
scene. Outside the 12 hour continuous surveillance period
video recordings will be made of the street scene.
The system will be linked from the Council's Central
Control Room to the local Police Station for them to monitor
activity as and when required. For example, many of the
retailers have a paging system which they use to advise the
Police when shoplifters are suspected. On receipt of a paged
alarm the Police will immediately monitor the situation
using the closed circuit television system. This will enable
them to assess the situation once the suspects enter the
street, and maintain a discrete surveillance until an officer
can be sent to investigate.
The Council hopes to have the surveillance system in
operation prior to the Christmas 1992 shopping period.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Designing user-friendly places
Many towns and cities now display a public environment
characterised by litter, poorly maintained mediocre
