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Application form
Please make sure you have read all the notes carefully before you start to fill in the application form. This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically - it is available on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning. Please complete all five sections. The deadline for submitting applications is 8 September 2006. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.
1 Please provide a name and contact details of the lead organisation responsible for this work.
Name | Mike Galloway |
Job title | Director of Dundee City Council Planning and Transportation Department |
Organisation | Dundee City Council Planning and Transportation Department |
Address | Floor 15 Tayside House, Crichton Street, Dundee, DD1 3RB |
Telephone | 0I382 43 36 10 |
Fax | 01382 43 33 13 |
Email | mike.galloway@dundeecity.gov.uk |
2 If this is a joint application, please list the other partners who had a key role. You should also inform your partners that you are nominating the project for an award.
1 Hilltown Top of the Hill Community Forum | 2 Better Neighbourhood Services Fund |
3 | 4 |
5 | 6 |
3 Tick the category of nomination
Title of entry | The Hilltown Park, Hilltown, Dundee |
Please complete the form on the following pages by providing a brief summary of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude with a key reason as to why you think this work merits an Award. Only the two A4 pages supplied here can be used and your text must fit within the boxes. The font size should be no less than 12pt.
The judging criteria are set out below. Please tick only the key criteria relevant to your entry:
You must describe, in your written submission, how the criteria which you have ticked relate to your project.
Description of project
The Hilltown park was a site created in the late 1960's and early 70's through tenement and other derelict building clearances but was never the subject of an holistic plan. The creation of the new Hilltown Park sets the agenda for new urban park design in Dundee that makes the spatial / physical connections between the existing and future social, commercial and residential areas of the Hilltown which are currently in a process of land-use change. The park's design includes landmark entrances as a 21st century addition to the urban streetscape of the Hilltown, it uses colour and form, a strong landscape structure of ornamental semi-mature tree species redesigned footways for easy access, new lighting, community arts and literacy installation to push the notional boundaries of what an urban park should be as a special place. |
Context - describe the background to the project
The area of ground known as the Hilltown park was not so much an urban park but a series of crumbling footpaths connecting residential pockets of the wider Hilltown area with no practical value as an amenity nor visual delight as a place. The Better Neighbourhood Services Fund was a Scottish Executive funding programme to be driven by the identification of local needs by the local communities, with a sub-group meeting on a bi-monthly basis to report upon issues and project development. The formation of the BNSF Environmental Sub-group, as a co-ordinating group between DCC officers and the communities acted as an agency to discuss and analyse the built environment context and prepare design solutions for the park. |
What are the aims and objectives of the project?
The primary aim of the project was to create an urban park which had a strong visual identity though its form, detail and content. Furthermore as a local amenity, it would through regular local use, local projects and events become a valued local asset. The careful design of the entrances, paths, tree selection, community arts and learning programmes has created a multi-layered approach to the design. - The Hilltown Park today is the landscape centrepiece of a wider landscape strategy that will connect the strands and opportunities within the existing built environment and gives a strong spatial direction to the regeneration and renewal of the wider Hilltown area. |
Timescale - over what timescale has the project been developed?
The designs for the park have been developed through community engagement and consultations in 2004 facilitated by the BNSF Environmental sub-group and a public open forum meeting in December 2004 prior to 400 letters and accompanying plans being issued to all adjacent residents and interested parties. The construction project took place during the financial years 2005/06/07 and was formally opened on the 26th August 2006 as the venue for the Hilltown festival. |
Action - explain the process and action taken
The BNSF Sub-group facilitated evening meetings and presentations between council officers and the local community members to identify the main elements to be addressed in the overall park design. Throughout 2004 the design proposals were developed in direct consultation with the community, as stated above, and the project implemented by Dundee City Council in the financial years 2005/06/07 to completion. The park will continue to be owned and maintained by Dundee City Council and will be the focus for further community arts and learning projects with the aim of creating a 'friends of Hilltown Park' to ensure long term local ownership |
Explain the role of the key partners
The BNSF Environmental sub-group became the Client role effectively commissioning the DCC Planning and Transportation Department as agent / designer to realise the projects and manage them to completion with regular progress updates. Partner funding was achieved from the European Regional Development Fund who agreed with the need and confidence in the objectives of the creation of an urban park. |
Results - what results were achieved?
The creation of an urban park with a multi-layered design solution that addresses; opportunities in the townscape, creates a new physical identity, a safe, attractive and welcoming amenity place, ornamental trees planted in bold landscape planting forms to give striking contemporary visual displays with seasonal interest. The park is also a potential showcase for local arts and literacy projects giving the park a local, personal, importance in the Hilltown. An urban park that causes the visitor to stop, enjoy the surroundings and take a pride in their local environment. |
Conclusion - in summary, why does this piece of work merit an Award?
The Hilltown Park demonstrates that through extensive community engagement and a design process informed from the local built environment context a strong layered design solution can be implemented to challenge the perceptions and established boundaries as to what an urban park should be; not only as permanent addition to social needs and the urban scenery of an area, but also as a catalyst for private investment, wider area regeneration and renewal that gives confidence to the local communities and outwardly signals positive change for the future. |
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