Exchange Street Carpark, Aylesbury

AYL09: Exchange Street Carpark, Aylesbury The site as shown on the Policies Map is allocated for mixed use development comprising 2000sqm floorspace in main town centre uses and 2000sqm office distributed across units of various sizes and around 450 homes. The site will also include new public realm and 150 car parking spaces. New development will be supported where: a) It introduces mixed, culture- and leisure-led town centre uses, complimenting adjacent sites. Development should sustain or enhance diverse town centre uses and customer choice incorporating residential accommodation above ground floor level where possible. b) The land uses enhance the town centre’s historic character and appearance, vitality and viability, maximising the site potential. c) It provides active frontages responding to the nearby Exchange development, Exchange Street and that relate well to High Street. d) Opportunities are taken to enlarge the existing public realm, incorporate public art and potential for landmark buildings that reduce the impact of tall buildings in the design of upper floors. e) Enhancements are delivered to the setting of the Listed Buildings in Market Square and Aylesbury Conservation Area informed by a Heritage Impact Assessment. f) Public realm and green infrastructure are designed to integrate and enhance St Josephs Church g) It enhances Exchange Street public realm, connections as part of an Aylesbury Transport Strategy and links to the Waterside South development. Development should enhance existing public spaces at Exchange Square, and pedestrian links connecting Market Square, Walton Street, Exchange Street and High Street. In addition, development should also enhance connections to public transport and the active travel network. h) Car parking is provided efficiently using the land for town centre uses and dedicated space for residential and employment uses. The car parking needs for this site should consider the accessibility of this site to other forms of transport, walkability and take opportunities presented for housing and offices to be car-free. i) Incorporate measures to reduce surface water flooding on the site in line with the latest SFRA Level 2 j) Line of mature Horse Chestnut trees to Exchange Street need retaining with a sufficient buffer. Design and Masterplanning A site Masterplan should be submitted to the council early in the planning application process, consistent with the latest Aylesbury Garden Town Masterplan. The Masterplan should be agreed as part of the planning application. As well as the site uses in this policy, the masterplan should also cover the following: a) Opportunities for landmark buildings, maximising site density with building heights related to the context. b) The design of development to reduce the impact of buildings heights on the upper storeys. c) Public realm and streets should be well defined by built form, with buildings surrounding space, not space surrounding buildings. d) Incorporate design features reflecting the town history and nearby mixed-use sites. e) Infill surface parking integrated around buildings and public space. f) Introduce ground level frontages to Exchange Street and boulevard tree planting. g) Continue design features in the active frontages of the nearby Exchange development. h) Mitigate steep level change between Exchange Street and Hale Leys. i) Improve pedestrian links across Exchange Street to Waterside Theatre and Grand Union Canal, and to Cambridge Street. j) Review ways to enhance the built environment and pedestrian permeability of Hale Leys, through enhancement or redevelopment. k) Maintain and enhance the viewing corridors to landmark buildings including the Waterside Theatre, the Exchange and town centre heritage buildings. 6.300 The existing site is primary used as a public car park. It is adjacent to Hale Leys Shopping Centre, High Street shops and services, the Exchange Street Road and ‘The Exchange’, an entertainment and leisure quarter of Aylesbury Town Centre. The site has been used a surface car park since the demolition of a multi-storey car park and Civic Centre around 2010. 6.301 The site is part of the ‘Waterside North’ opportunity area is town centre planning and most recent Aylesbury Garden Town Masterplan (2020). This also includes the established Exchange development and the Odeon cinema, Wetherspoons pub restaurant and other public realm areas around the surface car park up to Hale Leys Shopping Centre. In addition to these, the site is adjacent a new walkway to a regeneration project, Pavillion Quarter off High Street and other active frontage uses on High Street. 6.302 The site is highly visible from vantage points within the town centre and Waterside South. The site has significant footfall and presents the opportunity to repurpose public car parking elsewhere in the town. The site has a very high level of accessibility without needing a car. There are significant opportunities for a development on this site to help economic growth in the town centre with a range of town centre uses and employment generating uses. Like the established Exchange development adjacent, the site presents an opportunity for town centre living in high quality accommodation helping to meet local housing needs. 6.303 The site has constraints due to being located near the heart of the town centre with noise, footfall, cross town views and walking routes to maintain and hard surfacing. There is also topography, replacing the existing car park and Exchange Street is as a barrier to pedestrian and cycle movement. There are also flooding constraints with surface water flooding in the middle of the site and heritage constraints including the nearby Aylesbury Conservation Area and several Listed Buildings – Grade II star County Hall and Judges Lodgings, Market Square, 32-36 Market Square and a footpath right of way (route 24/1). There are several large established trees on the site within green space fronting Exchange Street. These constraints do not prevent the development from coming forward and the redevelopment of this site would be required to address and mitigate against these constraints. Residential development would require contributions toward health, education, sports, open space, transport and other contributions. 6.304 The site is part of the Aylesbury Central Area in the Aylesbury Garden Town Masterplan (2020, since revised). The AGT Masterplan for the Central Areas aims to continue and strengthen Aylesbury town centre's role as Buckinghamshire’s county town and civic centre. It will also create a town centre which is exemplary for its inclusive public realm that is safe, well-designed and accessible for all with an attractive arrival experience and first impression of the town centre. This site as part of the Central Area can also help support employment provision in the town, retail, the mix of uses and evening economy. In urban design terms, the site can help to increase physical health, access to the canal, enhance nearby heritage assets and be sensitive to the historic street pattern, scale and townscape. 6.305 Waterside North and South are already transforming into a cultural hub. This site allocation is one of the later phases of the scheme which aim to add quality public spaces and civic and community uses into the town centre and enhance town centre linkages with the Grand Union Canal and Bear Brook. 6.306 The area is identified in the AGT Masterplan as an opportunity for town centre redevelopment and falls within the Waterside North Action Plan which aims to enhance the retail, food and beverage, and housing offer in the town centre, strengthen links and help rejuvenate neighbouring areas.