Footpaths and green areas

Rose Hill road and the parade were planned and created with a generous amount of footpaths and grass verges. The attractive grass verges line the sweep of road as it rises from Henley Avenue to become Rose Hill Road.

A common green is at the centre of the neighbourhood. This small green area is planted with trees and shrubs and is an attractive amenity for the neighbourhood.

Local people were recently surprised and horrified to find that ‘the green’ and part of the grass verge in front of Humphris garage are under threat (see section 6 on planning proposals for mobile phone masts) with planning applications under review from two mobile phone companies who want to install 10 metre high phone masts in these locations.

‘It’s hard to feel any sense of pride
about where I live’

local resident.

In truth, there are indeed many problems in the neighbourhood (as outlined in this report). Since the applications for masts have come to people’s attention and the green areas are under threat, many local people, possibly for the first time, are looking closely at the environment they had hitherto felt more comfortable about ignoring. These green areas are a visual asset and it is important to everyone in the community that they remain so.

Due to the fact that many of the footpaths in the neighbourhood are covered in parked cars, several matters relating to footpaths have already been covered in Section 4, ‘Parking Congestion and Safety’.

In recent years there have been no hanging baskets on the parade. There was an incident of vandalism a few years ago and since then the council decided not to have the baskets anymore. Residents feel that depriving the community simply bows to vandalism and doesn’t address the problem of vandalism. ‘It’s demoralising to have the baskets taken away’.

The two bus shelters on the paths stand out as part of the street scene.

A local resident:

‘The bus shelter I use is so disgusting you can’t stand in it. The same graffiti in the bus shelters sometimes remains for months on end’.

As part of the approach for a strategy for renewal in the neighbourhood, the community appeals to the council to help improve the environment by keeping it looking at its best. Vandalism may occur but if it remains in evidence for too long it will set the tone and invite further anti-social behaviour.

Maintenance of the footpaths: As described in Section 4 on ‘Parking Congestion and Road Safety’, the pathways in front of the parade are covered in parked cars. There are cracks, holes and the surface of the paths is covered in unsightly patches of car grease and oil. Long-standing residents cannot recall that the paths have ever been resurfaced

In a plan to regenerate the neighbourhood, the planners will need to try to ascertain how much of the existing parking by the parade, whether on the road or the path, is already being taken up by free ‘park and ride’ users. They will also need to ensure that a plan to create more parking will incorporate protective bollards to keep the paths car free in future.

In the process of change to create more parking on the parade, members of the community would like to see preserved, as much as possible, the original character of the parade. A plan of action, now much overdue, is necessary to restore and resurface the walkways and footpaths in the neighbourhood.