Gretna, Gretna Green and Springfield Masterplan
Gretna, Gretna Green and Springfield are affected by the decommissioning of Chapelcross nuclear power plant. The area is also affected by economic challenges common across the South of Scotland related to continuing population reduction and low levels of growth or decline in key industries. At the same time, Gretna contains a number of opportunities which can help address the impacts of nuclear decommissioning and economic change while also providing a platform for the sustainable development of the area.
We have been commissioned as part of team led by Roger Tym and Partners, including Drew Mackie Associates to produce a Gretna Masterplan for the area. The masterplan will be a critical tool for the client group – the aims of key stakeholders including the community, Dumfries & Galloway Council and Scottish Enterprise Dumfries & Galloway and the private sector will only be fully realised if the area develops a clear, cohesive sense of place. The masterplan will act as a framework to develop this.
Gretna Green and Springfield are older traditional Scottish settlements but it is particularly interesting that Gretna itself was one of the earliest UK planned settlements in the 20th century, being built to a plan devised by Raymond Unwin in 1915. It is also notable that Gordon Cullen produced a strategy for the town in the 1980s.
The masterplan needs to provide a structure for the future development of the area, highlighting the relationship of key projects to the objectives of the Steering Group and the community, accompanied by a clear and logical means of implementing the proposals. Our work will also include the development of a place strategy for the town, a landscape framework that recognises the setting of the town in its atmospheric estuarine landscape and development frameworks for critical sites that will ensure the retention of the positive character of much of the area.
There is a later post about Raymond Unwin and Gretna.
