Wellington Place

Recent email from MEPC regarding Wellington Place. MEPC continute to set the standard for how development companies should conduct themselves in Leeds. . .

Dear Neighbour...

Thank you very much for responding to the MEPC Greening & Community Involvement Questionnaire sent out in February 2009. There were 243 respondents to the online survey with just over three quarters of you having a view over Wellington Place from your office or apartment.

Developing MEPC Wellington Place into a landmark area to live and work will take several years to achieve. The current economic climate has meant that work on the project has slowed down: finding suitable customers is more difficult when corporate finances are under pressure.

Until development is brought fully back up to speed, we believe that it’s crucial that the land we manage looks the very best it can, and serves a valuable purpose as a community resource for those who live and work around it. The findings from the Greening Questionnaire will help us achieve this.

Summary of key findings across both residents and companies

• 97% think that there is not enough green space in central Leeds and a similar proportion of people say that greening at Wellington Place will increase their use of green space
• Everybody responded to say that they would like to see more open grassed areas, as a response to this we have:-
  

1. taken down fences around the site allowing access to more green space
2. seeded a large area of land adjacent to the river
3. planted 200 saplings


It will take a number of months for the grass to grow on the area of land adjacent to the river, and
whilst we would like this to be accessible to the public, there are a number of security and safety issues which we need to consider. We would however like to organise some managed sporting and corporate events when the grass is mature.

We have also taken on board concerns raised about security and anti-social behaviour and are determined that Wellington Place will be a safe community environment. The site already has 24/7 manned CCTV and regular security patrols which have already proved successful in keeping the area safe and secure. We will also ensure that Wellington Place remains well-lit at night.

Summary of suggested improvements

For our corporate customers:

Urban gardens - As a result of feedback from our existing and local occupiers, we have created a number of small urban gardens. The interest has been so high that all of the plots were reserved within hours of their release. The success of the initial gardens means that we hope to extend the project in the future to give more organisations the chance to get planting.

Sporting facilities – The feedback also identified sporting facilities as something companies would like to see. After researching further we are pleased to confirm that a corporate five-a-side football pitch will be built next to Wellington Central. This will be closely managed by MEPC, for the use of occupiers on the Wellington Place estate as well as by invitation only to the local community.

For our neighbours who live around Wellington Place:

We were very pleased to have received a huge number of suggestions and ideas about how we could improve Wellington Place in the short term. Below is a list of ideas that we have either taken on board or are looking into:

• Picnic benches & seating around the site
• Open green space
• Outdoor exercise
• Art/sculpture
• Shelters
• Historical information boards
• Recycling facilities
• Additional lighting
• Urban Gardens
• Location maps
• Additional security measures
• Catering facilities
• Landscaped walkways

Some of the comments received refer to the wider surrounding area or the west end of Leeds as a whole. Given MEPC are one of the partners of the West End Partnership, which is a partnership that comprises of a small group of committed individuals and organisations who will drive forward the strategic agenda for West End Leeds in line with the vision for the City. We will collate your comments and table them for discussion at the next meeting.

We will of course keep you updated on all projects and future events as they are developed. In the meantime if you have any additional suggestions or would like to find out more about the plans for Wellington Place please email us at dsimcox@mepc.com or visit http://www.wellingtonplace.co.uk/.

Best regards
Chris Davidson
Development Manager
MEPC Ltd

Gotts Road Parking / Resurfacing

Hi all,

You will have been aware that Gotts road has been in a right state for quite a while now in terms of it being unfinished, massive pot holes in the road, unfinished pavements, not to mention the inconsiderate, dangerous and illegal parking that lots of you have emailed about, that the traffic wardens have been largely powerless to do anything about

However, we have recently had confirmation from the council that resurfacing of the road will commence on the Monday 8th of June, and will take 3 days to complete. This has various implications and impacts for the residents of City Island.

1. There will be a FULL ROAD CLOSURE for the three days that the work takes place, through the hours of 09:30 to 15:30. If possible the contractors will retain some vehicular access through Gotts Road, but you should assume that you will not be able to access Gotts Road in a vehicle between 09:30 and 15:30 on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of June. The council have left public notices on lampposts, and will also be leafleting parked cars in the week leading up to the 8th to try and advise anyone who uses the road for parking to make alternative arrangements.

2. The leaflets will also warn that if any cars are left parked on Gotts Road during the indicated times, that would prevent the contractor form doing the required work, the cars will be towed away and incur a £150 recovery fee.

3. After the resurfacing work is completed the road will be marked immediately, with the new parking restrictions which will be come into effect. See attached documents for details.

i. The first document basically states that Gotts Road is and will remain a one way road, enforced by the police.

ii. The second document basically states that no parking will be allowed anywhere at any time, apart from where everyone currently parks where parking will be restricted to 1 hour. These parking restrictions will be enforced by Leeds City Councils Parking Wardens who will issue fixed penalty fines to cars that are in violation of the new rules.

Please take note and don’t unnecessarily fall foul of these restrictions. Hopefully, this work will result in a better, safer Gotts Road.

Cheers,
Colin

City Island Residents Group.