ANOTHER LOOK AT CLUTTER IN RIPON
Published by the Society in the Ripon Gazette, 18th July 2008
David Winpenny, Co-Chairman of Ripon Civic Society, looks again at clutter in the city, with guidance from Bill Bryson and English Heritage
Author Bill Bryson is well known for championing the quirkiness of the British character, and so should be close to the hearts of all the people of Ripon. The Civic Society’s recent survey found that its quirkiness was one of the things that people like best about the city.
Dr Bryson has been observing communities in this county and around the world for several decades, and has a keen eye for what’s good and what’s bad. And as a Commissioner for English Heritage, as well as President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, he deserves listening to.
Here’s what he had to say in the foreword to a Department of the Environment publication, ‘Streets for All’: ‘Nothing says more, nor more immediately, of how a nation feels about itself, than the way it dresses its streets. England’s streets are very important to how it is perceived by the world . . . This is a country thoughtful enough to remind people to look left and right before stepping off the kerb, and stylish enough to produce iconic pieces of street furniture such as the red telephone and letter boxes. It is incumbent upon England to show world leadership in civilised streets.’
He goes on to condemn ‘the blight of unnecessary signs, poles, bollards, barriers, hotchpotch paving schemes and obtrusive road markings’ that mar the nation’s streets and he urges action against them, adding, ‘ It is hard to imagine something that would make more immediate improvement to the world around us that could be so quickly and cheaply achieved.’
This is a lesson that needs to be learned in Ripon as in many other places. We are condemned to an endless proliferation of bollards, barriers, bins and benches, as if we did not have sufficient wit to avoid stepping out into traffic or to work out where it is safe to stand.
‘Streets for All’ encourages us – and the councils responsible for our streets – to use new ways of differentiating areas for traffic, pedestrians, playing children, cyclists . . . This is ever more important as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires improved access for disabled people, including places for pedestrians that are free of obstructions.
In essence, modern townscapes should use local materials – local stone, cobbles and sets that are natural and locally-quarried flagstones, for example, as much as possible in laying out the streetscape. It is as easy to distinguish between areas for car use and pedestrian use by changes in material and the introduction of low curbs as it is by providing physical barriers. ‘Bollards,’ says the guide, ‘should be used as a last resort.’ Tactile paving – the bobbles on the pavement to let visually-impaired people know that they are, for example, at a crossing, is useful. But it should be made an integral part of the design and not just slapped on as so many in Ripon are at present.
One of the most important points the guide makes is that it is vital to identify and remove superfluous or redundant items of street furniture and make sure that any that remains is well designed. When signs, traffic signals and lighting are needed – and Ripon’s signage leaves much to be desired – it should be integrated with existing street furniture and buildings instead of having each sign stuck on its own pole. New designs should be simple, elegant and appropriate to context.
There is an opportunity for Ripon to do away with much of its out-dated street clutter next year when the roads around the Market Square are re-laid. There needs to be a radical look at the whole square, to return it to something like its open and attractive glory. Let’s make Ripon a leader in how a place should look rather than lagging, as too often, a decade behind others.
Author Bill Bryson is well known for championing the quirkiness of the British character, and so should be close to the hearts of all the people of Ripon. The Civic Society’s recent survey found that its quirkiness was one of the things that people like best about the city.
Dr Bryson has been observing communities in this county and around the world for several decades, and has a keen eye for what’s good and what’s bad. And as a Commissioner for English Heritage, as well as President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, he deserves listening to.
Here’s what he had to say in the foreword to a Department of the Environment publication, ‘Streets for All’: ‘Nothing says more, nor more immediately, of how a nation feels about itself, than the way it dresses its streets. England’s streets are very important to how it is perceived by the world . . . This is a country thoughtful enough to remind people to look left and right before stepping off the kerb, and stylish enough to produce iconic pieces of street furniture such as the red telephone and letter boxes. It is incumbent upon England to show world leadership in civilised streets.’
He goes on to condemn ‘the blight of unnecessary signs, poles, bollards, barriers, hotchpotch paving schemes and obtrusive road markings’ that mar the nation’s streets and he urges action against them, adding, ‘ It is hard to imagine something that would make more immediate improvement to the world around us that could be so quickly and cheaply achieved.’
This is a lesson that needs to be learned in Ripon as in many other places. We are condemned to an endless proliferation of bollards, barriers, bins and benches, as if we did not have sufficient wit to avoid stepping out into traffic or to work out where it is safe to stand.
‘Streets for All’ encourages us – and the councils responsible for our streets – to use new ways of differentiating areas for traffic, pedestrians, playing children, cyclists . . . This is ever more important as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires improved access for disabled people, including places for pedestrians that are free of obstructions.
In essence, modern townscapes should use local materials – local stone, cobbles and sets that are natural and locally-quarried flagstones, for example, as much as possible in laying out the streetscape. It is as easy to distinguish between areas for car use and pedestrian use by changes in material and the introduction of low curbs as it is by providing physical barriers. ‘Bollards,’ says the guide, ‘should be used as a last resort.’ Tactile paving – the bobbles on the pavement to let visually-impaired people know that they are, for example, at a crossing, is useful. But it should be made an integral part of the design and not just slapped on as so many in Ripon are at present.
One of the most important points the guide makes is that it is vital to identify and remove superfluous or redundant items of street furniture and make sure that any that remains is well designed. When signs, traffic signals and lighting are needed – and Ripon’s signage leaves much to be desired – it should be integrated with existing street furniture and buildings instead of having each sign stuck on its own pole. New designs should be simple, elegant and appropriate to context.
There is an opportunity for Ripon to do away with much of its out-dated street clutter next year when the roads around the Market Square are re-laid. There needs to be a radical look at the whole square, to return it to something like its open and attractive glory. Let’s make Ripon a leader in how a place should look rather than lagging, as too often, a decade behind others.
