ward area profile grange - gloucester and property/ward... · grange ward lies to the south of the...

Ward Area Profile

Grange

Spring 2013

Ward Area Profile: Grange

1

Overview Contents

Ward Councillors

Cllr Chris Chatterton - [email protected]

No address provided on City council website

Cllr Nigel Hanman - [email protected]

171 Bodiam Avenue

Gloucester

GL4 0TN

Summary

Grange ward lies to the south of the City and is a predominantly self contained and

established residential ward lying within the boundaries of the mainline railway, the A38 Cole

Avenue and the Daniel’s Brook.

The ward has two primary schools, a secondary school, local retail centre, library,

community centre, sports centre including swimming pool and three places of worship,

despite being the second smallest ward in the City for population. The level of service

provision reflects the fact that historically the services in the ward have also provided for the

populations of Podsmead ward to the north of the A38, Tuffley ward to the east of the railway

and in more recent years Quedgeley Fieldcourt to the south.

The ward has low educational achievement at the end of Key Stage 4 in comparison to other

wards in the City, a low level of household income and high levels of existing illness in the

westernmost lower super output areas.

Given the number of community and sports facilities in the ward and the strong presence of

faith communities it is considered that the ward is well placed to engage in community

development programmes and extended school provision to help address the deprivation

indicators that present as issues in this area.

Strengths

Two primary schools & one secondary

school within the ward

Local retail centre with low vacancy rates

Large amount of public open space

Weaknesses

Low percentage of 16 year olds gaining

5 GCSE A-C’s including maths &

English compared to rest of City

High level of existing illness’s within

LSOA’s across ward

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


2

Local sports centre within ward

High percentage of owner occupied

dwellings

High percentage of people are satisfied

with the area in which they live

Low level of average household income

across ward

Opportunities

To improve green infrastructure and

watercourses in the ward

To provide more public playing pitches

To provide more local play areas for

children

To improve health in the ward

To improve educational achievement in

the ward and improve skill development

amongst adults

To improve average household income

across the ward

Threats

Flooding from freak rainfall events

Structural change to the national

economy resulting in increased

unemployment.

Appendix 1

1.0 Physical Character of the Area

1.1 Location

Grange is located to the south of the City and comprises a triangular ward bounded by the

A38 Cole Avenue to the north, the mainline Birmingham to Bristol railway to the east and

Daniels Brook to the west and south. The ward has a mix of twentieth century house types

comprising a range of design styles, including terraced and semi detached housing and

dormer bungalows. Holmleigh Park and the Beaufort Community School campus are located

in the middle of the ward. There is an area of employment land to the north west of the ward

fronting onto Cole Avenue.


3

Figure 1: Location of Grange Ward within the City of Gloucester


4

1.2 The Historical Development of Grange

This ward is defined on its eastern side by the north-south line of the Midland Railway. The

1st edition Ordnance Survey map of 1880 shows the ward as being predominantly open

farmland (with a distinctive dog-leg field pattern indicative of medieval strip field cultivation).

Orchards are also visible – mostly along the sides of Grange Road or around Witcombe

Farm. The term grange refers to an outlying farm or estate belonging to a monastery and it

is assumed that Tuffley Grange was one such establishment during the medieval period. It

is unclear which ecclesiastical house it was owned by (although Llanthony Priory were

significant owners in the area). The 1st Edition OS shows three main settlements;

Quedgeley Court, Tuffley Grange and Witcombe Farm – none of which now survives.

By 1923 maps show considerable housing development along Grange Road although the

area is otherwise unchanged. Major development within the ward appears to have taken

place between the 1930s and 1955 with large housing developments extending throughout

the majority of the ward – with the only green space surviving in Homeleigh Park. The same

period also sees extensive industrial development in what is now the central trading estate.

The ward is now largely unchanged from the 1950s, the majority of the earlier landscape and

settlement pattern has been entirely removed. The earliest elements of the historic

landscape which still survive are the historic routes along Grange Road and Tuffley Avenue.

Figure 2: Historic map of Grange


5

1.3 Character of the area

The built form of Grange ward is characterised predominantly by semi detached and

terraced housing. It is a popular area of the City for families and for older people as there is

a substantial amount of bungalow development in the south eastern sector of the ward.

There is a local centre at Windsor Drive that comprises a convenience store , pharmacy,

take aways, hairdressers, pets hop and pub. Opposite the local centre is a library.

Figure 3: Grange Ward

Grange Road is the oldest route way through the ward which originally led to Whaddon from

Tuffley Lane. Some of the oldest dwellings in the ward can be found along this routeway.

Grange Road enjoys a pleasant character with street trees and the mature tree lined

avenues of Nympsfield and Randwick Road leading from it. There is a mix of age and type

of housing development along Grange Road. Some older properties with larger rear

gardens now benefit from permission to infill with new housing development to the rear, this

will change the spacious character of this area over time.


6

Tuffley Lane provides a routeway through the north and west of the ward and Bodiam

Avenue follows the route of the Daniels Brook to the south and west of the ward. Holmleigh

Road, Windsor Drive and Chatsworth Avenue provide permeability through the ward.

Routes out of the ward are provided by Tuffley Lane and Grange Road into Tuffley ward to

the east, Bodiam Avenue to the west and Epney Road to the north onto Cole Avenue.

Much housing development took place in the ward during the 1930’s and 1950’s including a

large area of dormer bungalow housing at Bodiam Avenue and off Chatsworth Avenue. This

area is quite densely developed but houses have off street parking and front and rear

gardens.


7

Local authority housing was provided in the area known as the Holmleigh Estate between

1965 and 1974, this area comprises a series of dense Radburn style layout closes accessed

from Holmleigh Road and Tuffley Lane in the north of the ward.

More recently new housing has been built since 2005 at Meredith Way, the site of the former

Grange Infants School and at Tolsey Gardens, a town house development in the north of the

ward off Tuffley Lane. These are higher density developments built to the highway design

guides of the era.


8

A major feature in the ward is Holmleigh Park, a large public open space. Beaufort

Community School is situated in the south eastern corner of the park adjacent to Harewood

Primary School. The library and community centre is also located on the edge of the open

space to the north of the Beaufort Campus. Holmleigh Park is spacious and predominantly

laid to playing pitches with informal open space around the edges.

Grange Primary School is located in the north of the ward and accessed from Holmleigh

Road, the school has good playing fields.

Additional public open space can be found between Randwick Park and the railway.

To the north of the ward is an employment area with a car showroom and trade counter uses

accessed from Cole Avenue and Shepherd Road. Most recently the former County Council

depot in this area, which backed onto Tuffley Lane, has been redeveloped as a community

training centre for the Fire service with the site being re-orientated to access from Tuffley

Lane.

In the very north east of the ward is a small static caravan park, it is well screened from

Green hill Drive but is situated some way from the local shops and services at Windsor

Drive.

1.4 Hierarchy of Routes

The main route in the ward is the A38 Cole Avenue which lies to the very north of the ward.

Grange Road and Tuffely Lane provide connectivity through the ward with Bodiam Avenue,

Chatsworth Drive Avenue, and Windsor Drive and Homleigh Road providing internal

distributor roads within the ward.


9

2.0 Demographics

2.1 Population

The 2011 Census demonstrates that Grange ward has a population of 5,839 people. This

accounts for 4.79% of the population of the City making it the third smallest ward after

Elmbridge and Podsmead. (Source: Census 2011).

2.2 Age

The breakdown of age cohorts is provided in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4: Breakdown of Population by age

Source: Census 2011

Figure 4 clearly shows more people in the ward aged between 60 and 69 than any other

cohort and a significant number of people aged 40-44. There are also more teenagers in the

ward than children aged 0-9. With regard to adults the ward has an older age profile than

other wards in the City.

The breakdown of population by cohorts by sex is illustrated in Figure 5 below. The graph

shows a similar number of boys and girls up to the age of 9, but significantly more male

teenagers in the ward. There are then more women than men living in the ward for all

remaining age cohorts. Of particular note are the numbers of women aged 60-69 in the

ward. From the age of 60 there are more women than men in each cohort, reflecting the

national trend of women living longer than men.


10

Figure 5: Breakdown of population cohorts by sex

Source: 2011 Census data

2.3 Ethnicity

Table 1 displays the ethnic make up of the City in 2006, this data demonstrates that the

population of Grange consists of 95.7% White British and 4.3% Ethnic Minority groups. This

means that Grange is ranked 2nd lowest ward in the City with regard to those of non white

British ethnicity.

Table 1: Ethnicity of population in wards across Gloucester City

Source: Gloucestershire County Council - Ethnicity in Gloucestershire 2006


11

2.4 Gender

The discussion under Figure 5 clearly highlights the discrepancies between genders within

the ward. What is clear is that teenage boys out number teenage girls. However from the

age of 20 onwards there are more women than men in the ward for every cohort.

2.5 Housing Tenure

The housing tenure split for Grange is illustrated in Figure 6 below and clearly demonstrates

that the majority of housing in the ward is owner occupied (82%), with 12% in the private

rented sector and 5% in the social rented sector.

Figure 6: Housing Tenure in Grange Ward

Source: 2011 Census

The comparison chart in Figure 7 below shows that Grange ward has one of the higher

levels of owner occupation across the City.


12

Figure 7: Tenure within Gloucester City by ward

Source: 2011 Census

2.6 Profile of housing stock

The majority of the housing stock in the ward has been constructed since the second war

and reflects the prevailing highway standards and design codes of the time.

The Holmleigh estate was built by the City Council using the Radbourne style layout, similar

housing can also be found in Abbey ward.


13

The majority of housing in the ward is suitable for families but there is also a large area of

bungalow development suitable for the elderly, although not all of this development is

located in close proximity to the local centre with its local shops and services.

Grange has a higher than average percentage of houses and bungalows at 92% compared

to the average for Gloucester at 83%. In turn, Grange has a lower than average percentage

of flats at 6% compared to the district average of 16%. Grange has a high percentage of

caravans and mobile homes at 3%.

Grange has a lower than City average percentage of one, four and five bedroom properties

but a higher than City average percentage of two and three bedroom properties. Grange

has a lower than average percentage of properties in Council Tax Bands A, D and E but

higher than average percentage in bands B and C.

Grange has a high percentage of houses and bungalows which are privately owned. This

has resulted in a shortage of flats and housing for rent. The ward should focus on

developing more social housing to address the imbalance.

2.7 Energy efficiency of housing stock

Thermal imaging of the housing stock in the ward demonstrates that housing in the south

eastern sector of the ward and older housing stock along Grange Road is more thermally

efficient than the majority of other housing elsewhere in the ward.

A household is deemed to be in Fuel Poverty if they spend more than 10% of their income of

heating their home; the table below shows the percentage of households who are defined as

being in fuel poverty. 5.0% of households in Grange are in fuel poverty, which is lower than

the local authority average of 5.5%.


14

2.8 Housing Need

The 2009 Fordham Research Gloucestershire household survey idenitifed Grange as lying

in the south central sub area of the city which has a cumulative total of 10,730 households.

Of these 3.8% are households in unsuitable housing and 1.9% are in current housing need.

3.0 Community Facilities

3.1 Healthcare

The ward has one doctors surgery at Warwick Avenue which is a branch surgery of

Heathville Road Medical Centre in the City. This branch surgery has pre- bookable

appointments, same day appointments and some provision for emergencies.

There is a dental surgery located at 29 Windsor Drive.

3.2 Libraries

Tuffley Library is located on Windsor Drive opposite the local centre at the end of the drive

that leads to Beaufort Community School.

The library is open as follows;

Monday 10am – 1pm 2pm -5pm

Tuesday - 2pm-5pm

Wednesday Closed

Thursday 10am-1pm 2pm-5pm

Friday - 2pm-5pm

Saturday 10am-1pm

The library offers the following sessions;

Baby Bounce and Rhyme

Housebound Library Service

Library Club

PC’s with internet access

Parking for those with access needs and flat access with automatic doors


15

3.3 Places of Worship

St. Georges Tuffley

St. George’s is an Anglican Church that is located on Grange Road and built in 1956 to

serve the ever expanding estate of Tuffley. The church has Sunday Services and runs a

coffee club and a luncheon club. The church hall is well used by the local community

including Scout and Guide groups, mother and toddlers and Blood Donor sessions.

English Martyrs Church

English Martyrs Church is a Roman Catholic Church located on Tuffley Lane. Mass is held


16

on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. Children are welcome at the services, the parish is linked

with St. Augustine’s at Matson.

Grange Baptist Church

This Baptist Church, built in 1950 is located towards the northern end of Grange Road, it

runs Sunday services which cater for children and young people as well as other activities

including toddlers club, a kids club for primary school aged children, a youth group and a

ladies meeting.

3.4 Community Facilities

The Gloucester City Draft Community Facility Audit (Autumn 2012) identifies Grange as

having more than the national recommended level of community facility provision. The

facilities listed include the following;

Beaufort Community School Murrary Hall Library Grange Baptist St Georges


17

3.5 Education Facilities

For a relatively small ward, in terms of population, there are good educational facilities

including two primary schools and one secondary school. It is important to note that children

from neighbouring Tuffley and Podsmead wards also feed into the primary schools in

Grange ward and that children from across the south of the City, including neighbouring

Kingsway, feed into the secondary school – Beaufort Community School.

Grange Primary School

This large primary school is located in the north of the ward and is accessed from Holmleigh

Road. The Oak’s Children Centre and The Acorn Centre, a community playgroup, are

located on the same campus as the primary school.

The 2009 Ofsted report for the school states that the reception class is oversubscribed. The

school was found to be satisfactory and improving.

Harewood Infants School

This two form entry school opened in January 1966 and shares the same site as Harewood

Junior School. The school is located adjacent to Beaufort Community Schoo and accessed

via Windsor Drive or Chatsworth Avenue. George’s playgroup is based in the school and

Tuffley Playgroup hold two sessions a week at the school.

Harewood Junior School

The school shares the same campus as Harewood Infants and is part of the South

Gloucester Learning Trust that includes Beaufort, Harewood, Grange, Action fro Children,

Gloucestershire University and Midcounties –Co-op. The school has two forms per year

group.


18

Beaufort Community School

This is a purpose built comprehensive school serving the southern part of the City of

Gloucester. The school is set in a large open site within the grounds of Holmleigh Park.

There are 1200 students on roll of which 180 are in the sixth form. The new sixth form

centre was opened in 2010. The main school building dates from 1971, new developments

include a new library and ICT suite, Business studies rooms and refurbished technology

facilities. A performing arts centre was opened in 1997 including music rooms and recording

studios and performance space.

The school has a large community sports centre including a swimming pool, sports hall,

gym, squash courts and fitness suite, this facility is extensively used by the community

during the evening and at weekends.

The school contains the county’s Centre for Hearing Impaired Pupils of secondary school

age with 20 places for hearing impaired students.

The school is regarded as one of the most successful and improved within the local

authority. There is a focus on the quality of teaching and learning to raise pupil achievement

throughout the school supported by a strong pastoral structure.

In September 2010 the school became a member of The South Gloucester Learning Trust.

The aim of the Trust is to promote the education and well being of young people and their

families in the South of Gloucester, particularly Tuffley, Grange and Podsmead.

The school was inspected by Ofsted in January 2011 and was found to be ‘satisfactory’, with

a good capacity for sustained improvement. A further report in November 2012 identified

‘serious weaknesses ’ at the school.

3.6 Leisure Facilities

The Beaufort Sports complex, opened in September 1974 is the main leisure resource in the

ward, as described above it has sports facilities as well as a swimming pool and is widely

used by the community and clubs during evenings and weekends. The facility was

refurbished in 2012. The centre provides swimming lessons for children as well as

recreational swimming, aqua aerobics and life guard training. Other clubs run from the

centre include five a side, Zumba, Karate, Cricket & Tennis.

Jed’s Gym is located in the north of the ward on land at the Tuffley Rovers junior teams

sports pitches off Tuffley Lane.

3.7 Cultural Facilities

A cultural facility is defined as any building or structure used for programs or activities

involving the arts or other endeavours that encourage refinement or development of the

mind. In Grange the facilities include the library at Tuffley.

3.8 Community Groups and Services


19


20

4.0 Deprivation Index

4.1 Deprivation table

The deprivation rate is compared to the County norm of 1. A rate of 0.5 represents half the

County average rate, a rate of 2 would show the locality has double the norm.

Hot indicates the locality is in top 10% (or bottom 10% when marked with an *) of localities in

Gloucestershire (therefore this is an issue within the City). Warm indicates the locality is in

the next 25% of localities in the County (therefore this indicator is an issue when compared

to the County). Cold indicates a ‘cool’ rating compared to other localities in the County (this

indicator is not an issue).

Table 2: Deprivation Indicators for Grange Ward

(Source: Data from Maiden multi agency information database for neighbourhoods 2012 &

2007)

Source MAIDeN Number Hot, Warm or Cool

Health

Social work assessments 2011 5 Cool

Mental Health Assessments 2011 15 Cool

Weekly alcohol spend £s CACI 2006 20618 Cool

Children and Young People

Accident Admissions of under 5’s 2012 20 Warm

Accident Admissions of under 17’s 2012 65 Warm

Children in need 2011 25 Cool

Crime victims under 20 years old 2010-11 35 Warm

Lone parent benefit claimants August 2008 53 Warm

Key stage 4 – Pupils not achieving 5+ A*-C grades inc English * maths 2011-2012

30 Warm

Free School Meals – Pupils eligible 2012 80 Warm

Pupils with English as an additional language where first language known

725 Hot

Crime

Victims of crime (all) 2010-11 285 Warm

Anti Social Behaviour Incidents recorded by the Police 2010-11

290 Warm

Theft victims 2010-11 115 Cool

Violence victims 2010-11 70 Warm

Burglary victims 2010-11 45 Warm

Hate Crime/incidents 2010-11 10 Cool

Serious and Fatal Road Traffic Collisions 2007-10 5 Cool

Criminal damage victims 2010-11 45 Warm

Arson recorded by Fire and Rescue 2008-11 10 Cool


21

Economy

Mean household income 2007 £k* 28,644 Hot

Working-age benefit claimants Aug 2008 361 Warm

Job seeker claimants Aug 2008 58 Warm

Incapacity Benefit claimants 2008 137 Warm

Lone parent benefit claimants Aug 2008 53 Warm

Carer claimants Aug 2008 24 Warm

Disabled claimants Aug 2008 29 Warm

Households with broadband internet 2008* 2214 Cool

4.2 Deprivation Map

Figure 8 below illustrates the Indices of Deprivation for Gloucester 2010.The map is

compiled by looking at income deprivation, employment deprivation, health and disability,

education, skills and training, crime and disorder, barriers to housing services, and living

environment. It is clear from the map that the northern part of Grange ward is experiencing

deprivation issues. This area of the ward is the location of the former Gloucester City Council

housing stock, Gloucester City Homes still retain some social rented accommodation in this

area.

Figure 8: Indices of Deprivation 2010

Source: Gloucestershire Research & Intelligence


22

4.3 Headline Indicators

The indicators above show that issues for Grange ward include low average household

income and a low level of adult e-learning. Low average household income could be

explained by the higher numbers of older households than in other parts of the City, but

could also reflect the fact that there are many low income households living in the ward.

The northern part of the ward suffers most severely from low educational achievement, skills

and training, but other factors which are highlighted for this area include access to housing,

income deprivation affecting children and employment deprivation. Significantly the west of

the ward suffers from geographical access to services.

4.4 Health

The Director of Public Health’s report for Gloucester from 2009 – 2010 identifies those areas

with existing health problems including angina, heart attack, new cases of diabetes, high

blood pressure and high cholesterol. The map splits the ward into Lower Super Output

Areas (LSOA’s) of approximately 650 households. The existing health problem map for the

City shows that Grange ward is split into four LSOA’s of which the two westernmost areas

each have 101-200 households with existing health problems. The two easternmost LSOA’s

each have 51-100 households with existing health problems. This data demonstrates the

high number of households in the ward with existing health problems and is illustrated in the

map below.


23

The same report indicates that there are no parts of the ward that are harbouring future

health problems, this is illustrated in the map below.

Community Health trainers operate in the ward. Community Health Trainers offer support,

information and guidance to people who want to make changes to their lifestyle. They offer

realistic and practical help with:

Improving wellbeing, reducing stress and feeling better about yourself

Healthy eating and weight management

Stopping smoking

Sensible drinking

Becoming more physically active

The service is free, non-judgemental, confidential and quick and easy to access.


24

4.5 Crime

Based on data recorded between 1st April 2009 and 31st March 2010 Grange ward has no

crime hotspots identified for incidents of ‘all crime’ in and around the ward. However

recorded incidents for serious crime include the area around Tuffley Lane between Bodiam

Avenue and English Martyrs Church and the eastern end of the local centre at Windsor

Drive, Chatsworth Avenue.

Data from Gloucester City Community Safety Partnership for 2012 demonstrate an overall

decrease in crime for 2011/12 compared to 2010/11 in the ward. All recorded burglary and

theft have decreased in the ward over this reporting period but there was a slight increase in

criminal damage.

4.6 Car ownership

Generally car ownership levels in the ward are high with only a small area in the north west

of the ward with 18 – 37% of households without a car or van.


25

Figure 9: Proportion of Households without a car or van

Source: ONS 2001 Census


26

5.0 Economics

5.1 Employment

Source: Gloucestershire County Council Unemployment Bulletin November 2012

In November 2012 Grange was ranked 97th out of 142 wards in the County with regard to

unemployment base on an analysis of claimant counts. With a rate of 2.5 the ward is in the

third quartile of claimants in the County, the City having an average unemployment rate of

4.1.

Table 3 – Claimant Count in Gloucester by Ward November 2012

Source: Gloucestershire County Council

5.2 Average Household Income

Data from 2007 shows that compared to the rest of the County mean average household

income in Grange of £28,644 was in the lowest 10% for income in all wards or parishes in

Gloucestershire. The level of benefit claimant counts and the numbers of children eligible for

free school meals point to the fact that the ward is one where low household income is an


27

issue and where any further decreases in average household income would start to be

reflected in increases in deprivation indicators in other areas.

5.3 Educational Achievement

Data provided from the County for 2010/11demonstrates that within the ward, of 72 pupils at

the end of Key Stage 4, 41 (57%) achieved 5 GCSE’s including maths and English while 63

(87%) achieved 5 GCSE’s. The comparison of achievement of pupils in Grange ward

against the rest of the City can be seen in Figure 9 below.

Figure 9 demonstrates that in 2012 the ward was second highest in the City for pupils

achieving 5 GCSE’s but 7th highest in the City (out of 15 wards) for 5 GCSE’s including

maths and English, this demonstrates that numeracy and literacy skills in the ward for young

people aged 16 in the summer of 2012 are not as high as other skills that young people may

have, or as high as other wards in the City.

Figure 10: Educational attainment at GCSE across the City

Source: Gloucestershire County Council 2012

5.4 Retail

Grange ward has a local shopping centre on Windsor Drive which is split into two parts,

Homleigh Parade can be found opposite the library and community centre and main access

to the Beaufort School Campus. This shopping parade which consists of 9 retail units

contains amongst others a convenience store, a chip shop, a pet shop, a bakery and a

hairdresser’s.


28

The second half of the local centre is found at the junction of Windsor Drive and Chatsworth

Avenue adjacent to the public house. This shopping parade has a hairdresser’s, an estate

agents and a Chinese takeaway.

The local centre caters for top up convenience shopping and everyday or specialist shopping

requirements, it does not provide for a weekly shop. The closest larger supermarkets can be

found at Quedgeley and Gloucester Quays.


29

5.5 Public Transport

Grange ward is served by the no. 10 bus service which provides connectivity to Gloucester

City and Cheltenham via Brockworth. The bus travels along Tuffley lane, Bodiam Avenue

and Windsor Drive before returning to the City via Podsmead Drive and Seymour Road.

As part of the Kingsway development to the south west of the ward in Quedgeley Fieldcourt,

infrastructure has been provided to allow for bus connectivity between Brize Avenue,

Kingsway and Chatsworth Avenue in Grange Ward. At the time of writing this ward profile

there are no bus services using this road link. The link is only available to be used by buses

and is not open to other traffic, other than pedestrians and cyclists.

5.6 Cycleways

The 2002 Gloucester City Local Plan identifies cycleways running through the ward along

Tuffley Lane and Bodiam Avenue. Off road routes include adjacent to Holmleigh Avenue and

across Holmleigh Park.

5.7 Congestion

The A38 Cole Avenue, which lies to the north of the ward, experiences congestion during

both morning and evening peak hours with more congestion experienced during the evening

that the morning (Gloucestershire County Council Congestion Monitoring report 2010/11).

This road is identified as having between 20,000 and 50,000 vehicular movements per day

as it comprises part of the A38 eastern routeway through the City.


30

6.0 Land use Issues

6.1 Conservation

There are no known Conservation Areas or listed buildings within the ward.

6.2 Public Open space

The Draft Open Space Strategy

(2012) indicates that the ward meets

or exceeds the City Council’s

proposed open space standard of 2.8

ha per 1000 population and falls

short by 30-59% of the proposed

sports pitch provision of 1.6ha per

1000 population.

The open spaces in the ward were created as part of the housing development, to provide

space for formal and informal recreation.

The largest open space at Holmleigh Park, is in shared ownership with the county council (forming the grounds of Beaufort Secondary School), but is open to the public. The ward’s open spaces are mainly managed as short mown grass with associated trees, shrubs and hedgerows.

In total the ward has 24.54ha of open space, a provision of 4.37ha per 1000 population, which is in excess of the proposed open space standard of 2.8ha per 1000. There are several formal sports pitches provided in the ward which are generally used by local teams. A bookable MUGA is also available through Beaufort School/Sports Centre and this is included in the sports pitch

calculation below. Outdoor sports provision is 0.64ha per 1000, which falls well short of the proposed standard

for playing pitch provision of 1.6ha per 1000. There are three play areas in the ward which equate to 0.10ha per 1000, which falls short of the proposed standard for formal play provision of 0.25ha per 1000.


31

Figure 11: Public Open Space in Grange Ward

Ref. Name Size Description (see list of open space types)

GR1 Chatsworth Avenue 0.42 B

GR2 Tuffley Community Centre 1.82 J + B 1 adult football

GR3 Denham Close/Chatsworth Ave 0.38 B

GR4 Tuffley Lane (The Gladiator) 0.63 I

GR5 Holmleigh Park 16.15 J + B + H 2 adult football, LEAP

GR6 Randwick Park (majority) 4.61 A + H NEAP, MUGA, skate Includes site TU3 in this calc

GR7 Windsor Drive 0.12 B

GR8 Grange Road (public space, but privately managed)

0.21 B + H LEAP

GR9 Tolsey Gardens (upper site) 0.2 B

GR10 Tolsey Gardens (lower site) (yet to be adopted)

new B (0.06ha)

Total: 24.54ha


32

Figure 12: Map of Public Open Space in Grange Ward


33

Grange ward meets the council’s adopted standard for open space quantity, but many sites fall short of the expected standard in terms of quality of park infrastructure and facilities. Improvements in provision should therefore concentrate providing high quality play and sports facilities and ensuring optimum maintenance and usage of sports pitches on existing sites. The feasibility of creating a site for allotment provision in the ward, by converting an underused part of an existing open space, could be explored. Other local priorities will be developed in consultation with the local community as part of the development of the Grange Ward Open Space Action Plan. 6.3 Green Infrastructure The Draft City of Gloucester Green Infrastructure plan identifies the Whaddon and Daniels Brooks as existing open watercourse and wildlife corridors running through the ward. The Ward enjoys a number of green corridors in the form of strategic cycle ways and footpaths, as well as larger open spaces. Recommendations for the ward include;

1. Providing a direct pedestrian/cycle path across Holmleigh Park to link with the Whaddon

Brook

2. Breaking the Whaddon Brook out of a concrete channel through Windsor Drive and

Tuffley Lane.

The Green Infrastructure Plan for the ward can be found at Figure 13 below.

Figure 13: Green Infrastructure of Grange Ward


34

There are no sites of nature conservation importance identified on the 2001 First Deposit

Local Plan Proposals map.

6.4 Water

A characteristic of the ward are the tributaries of the River Severn that flow from the

Cotswold escarpment towards the river to the south of the City and consequently pass east

–west through Grange ward, these include the Whaddon Brook and the Daniels Brook.

The Daniels Brook follows a natural drainage chanel and comprises the southern boundary

of the ward while the Whaddon Brook follows a mix of natural and concrete culverted

chanels through the ward.

Both of these watercourses feed directly into the Gloucester to Sharpness Canal at Lower

Hempsted.

6.5 Sustainability

Other than the City Council kerbside collection service there are no recycling facilities

available in the ward.

7.0 Previously Identified Issues

What our residents have previously said about this area?

7.1 City Plan City Vision Issues and Options Consultation Summer 2011

Three Bridges Neighbourhood Partnership Meeting 18.05.11

No comments made that related to the ward

Written comments to consultation

None


35

7.2 Small Area Survey 2008 - Three Bridges


36


37


38


39

7.3 2006 Site Allocations and Designations Preferred Options Consultation

There were no sites within the ward allocated in the 2006 PO SAD document and no

comments received concerning Grange Ward.

It was proposed that land to the south of Grange Road should become Green Belt however

this land falls within Tuffley Ward. This matter is considered in the Tuffley Ward profile.

7.4 Previous local plan allocations and representations Proposals map 2001.

Land at Tuffley Lane and Grange Infants School were previous local plan allocations for

housing (H.2.9 & H.2.10), both sites have now been completed.

The Beaufort School Campus, Holmleigh Park, Randwick Park and the open space to the

rear of the Murray Hall are identified as Landscape Conservation Areas.


40

Cycle routes are identified along Cole Avenue, Bodiam Avenue, across Holmleigh Park and

along Tuffley Lane and Randwick Road.

7.5 Extant major permissions

There are no major extant permissions in the ward.

ward area profile grange - gloucester and property/ward... · grange ward lies to the south of the...

Documents