HARTLEPOOL ASPIRATIONAL MASTERPLAN

Hartlepool town centre retail zone is currently disconnected from the historic Church Street and the Marina by Stockton Street, a busy dual carriageway. This road has limited pedestrian crossing opportunities and to a pedestrian can feel intimidating due to the speed of traffic and the treatment of pedestrian routes. The Middleton Shopping centre is also inward looking with blank facades facing Victory Square and the Council offices providing no connection between the streetscape and retail zone.   The key strategic moves developed under the masterplan to making the town centre an attractive place to visit include:

//Enhancing and connecting the public realm to provide attractive pedestrian routes from the Marina, up Church Street, through to Victory Street and York Road.

//Creation of wide attractive pedestrian crossings on Stockton Street, encouraging the students into the retail centre.

//Widening the footpaths on Church Street to encourage cafes to spill out of the south facing buildings.

//Removing excessive guardrails on York Road and creation a central median to enable ease of pedestrian crossing thus making the shopping provision on the western side more attractive.

//Creation of a retail/ café/ restaurant frontage onto Victory Square.

//Addressing the excessive sea of car parking provision in the town centre through creation of development plots and breaking up the parking with tree planting and pedestrian routes.

Client

Hartlepool Borough Council (appointed by GVA)