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Council bosses seek a developer to provide world-class city waterfront (From This is Hampshire)
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Council bosses seek a developer to provide world-class city waterfront
12:05pm Monday 15th March 2010
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- By Matt Smith » Political reporter
THE hunt for a developer to transform South-ampton’s Royal Pier area into a world-class waterfront will be launched today.
Council bosses have pledged to get the best architects and developers in the business to compete for the chance to reshape the area around Mayflower Park.
It has been described as the most prestigious waterfront opportunity in the country and could feature offices, at least two hotels, restaurants, marine related shops, luxury flats, an 8,000-seater indoor arena and a Las Vegas-style casino, particularly to entertain the growing number of cruise visitors.
The derelict Royal Pier behind Kuti’s Royal Thai Pier restaurant would be demolished and in its place a new promenade would stretch from Mayflower Park, across land raised from the seabed, to Town Quay.
The council’s Cabinet member for economic development Councillor Royston Smith said the priority was to get people closer to the waterfront and to transform the Royal Pier district into a “destination location to be proud of”, while securing the long-term future of the Southampton Boat Show.
Cllr Smith said: “This has to be a big draw. It’s not going to be block of flats on the waterfront.
“We want world-class architects and world-class developers. There will be no question of dumbing down with this. It will last for a generation to come and it has to be right.”
Colin Banyard, chairman of Kilbride, said his firm would be at the front of the queue to become the preferred developer.
He insisted the waterfront had all the elements to be transformed in the same way as Boston, Vancouver and Darling Harbour in Sydney.
While few new ideas have come forward, Cllr Smith said he thought Kilbride had done a good job assessing the development over the past 18 months.
He said problems had been identified and the groundwork laid for more detailed proposals.
A plot stretching from Royal Pier to the De Vere roundabout and Holiday Inn hotel, and encompassing Mayflower Park and part of Southampton Water has been earmarked for development.
The project will require the relocation of the Red Funnel terminal, likely to Town Quay marina or berth 101, and the costly reclamation of the seabed to extend the site.
Southampton City Council will now jointly market the site with ABP, which owns Royal Pier, and fellow landowner Crown Estates.
The council will tender for developers this summer.
However, it is not expected a brick will be laid for two or three years.
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Your Say YourHampshire
hulla baloo, Turkey says...
12:47pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Ah yes, a bit like ocean village, but a bit more ambitious, and possibly a heavier fall.
Just replace the pier and leave the rest as open land.
We have a casino down the road, along with plenty of shops and hotels.
Leave us a bit of green area to relax and watch the liners.
james47, southampton says...
12:56pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Lucius Curtis, Mayflower Park says...
1:08pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Family Man, Bitterne says...
1:08pm Mon 15 Mar 10
This has the possiblity of being much better than Gun Wharf Quays, but somehow I doubt it will ever be any more than an apartment development with the occasional token bar thrown in to pacify the punters...and perhaps more hotels...and in essence virtually nothing there for Southampton residents....
southy, redbridge says...
1:19pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Lone Ranger, Southampton says...
1:45pm Mon 15 Mar 10
For god's sake can we have something that does not revolve around these two towering eyesores. Whilst Cllr Smith may say..."It's not going to be a block of flats on the waterfront" i dont have much faith in him delivering.
Bassett Boy, southampton says...
1:50pm Mon 15 Mar 10
I believe the council meet in their chambers with no 1 on the agenda being:
"What cr@p suggestion can we come up with next, that will make headlines and distract the public from realising that we don't actually do anything worthwhile"
Oh dear, I'm getting more and more cynical as I get older!
Carpe Diem, Southampton says...
2:14pm Mon 15 Mar 10
geoff51, Totton says...
2:38pm Mon 15 Mar 10
southy wrote:For once I agree with you, there are not many places in this waterfront city where you can actually see the water.
i agree with hulla baloo just replace the pier and leave the rest a lone. its a nice open place and a very good fishing spot. there to much developement on the water front all ready. if any thing they should make it a public hard for locals to replace the ones that we all ready have lost on the southampton test side there been 4 lost that the public could of used for free in the 80 to 90 years.
The usual mish mash of developments in the past have destroyed our biggest asset as a tourist destination namely our port and our history,
Not everbody wants to shop and anyway they cant afford the Parking charges!
MrGMan, Shirley says...
2:49pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Jerry Parsons, Eling on Sea says...
3:29pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Just for once, could they leave things alone & let us make our own amusements with a bit of open space.
If we want an Ocean village experience, then we'll go to ....Ocean Village!
IanRRR, N Baddesley says...
3:31pm Mon 15 Mar 10
OSPREYSAINT, Southampton says...
3:34pm Mon 15 Mar 10
S/W walk-area !! uncanny
southy, redbridge says...
3:44pm Mon 15 Mar 10
MrGMan wrote:make it belong to the people of southampton maybe even put a marine museum on the end of it.
If the pier was to be replaced on it's own, who would pay for it?
IanRRR, N Baddesley says...
3:46pm Mon 15 Mar 10
james47 wrote:Vision for the future? Southampton City Council? No, not going to happen!
Personally I think this is an brilliant idea. Its good to see Southampton City Council having some vision for the future. The jobs created will be useful for the city in the current recession.
Oh, and by the time they decide anything, the recession will be a distant memory. If they had any vision for the future, they would open up our waterfront, but no, they want to build more flats and hotels....
No-one wants the ones that we have already, yet here they are, talking about repeating the same mistakes, yet again. Our waterfront is our unique opportunity, yet we seem intent on covering every last inch of it in bricks and concrete. Oh how our children will cry at the missed opportunity in years to come. Want to see a great City, with a fantastic waterfront, and an economy that benefits? Take a look at Plymouth...loads of development, but in total sympathy with the open landscape. Result!
The Wickham Man, Fareham says...
3:47pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Jammy Donut, Brook says...
4:09pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Over the past two years the Echo has "revealed" at least 5 other schemes that were going to be signed up any minute.
How about some real investigative reporting on how the "catch 22" is always the obligatory flats and hotel to make the developer big bucks and some quirky feature that suckers in the Council - Spitfires on sticks, Titanic museums in Tents etc.
geoff51, Totton says...
4:49pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Jammy Donut wrote:The Boat Show may bring a few people into Southampton for one week of the year, but what about the rest of the year? The people of Southampton deserve better than another Hotel/ Flats complex.
what happens to the annual Boat Show ? the only viable event that brings in visitors to spend money in the city. Over the past two years the Echo has "revealed" at least 5 other schemes that were going to be signed up any minute. How about some real investigative reporting on how the "catch 22" is always the obligatory flats and hotel to make the developer big bucks and some quirky feature that suckers in the Council - Spitfires on sticks, Titanic museums in Tents etc.
Let them have free access to the waterfront, with something to attract visitors not a tatty old park that for 3 months of the year is closed for the Boat Show preparations.
Ask the people what they want do not give them something they do not want
southy, redbridge says...
5:01pm Mon 15 Mar 10
geoff51 wrote:the park is not close for 3 mths of the year, there a 10 day max that park is allowed to be close for. the council is only the guardians to the park.
Jammy Donut wrote:The Boat Show may bring a few people into Southampton for one week of the year, but what about the rest of the year? The people of Southampton deserve better than another Hotel/ Flats complex.
what happens to the annual Boat Show ? the only viable event that brings in visitors to spend money in the city. Over the past two years the Echo has "revealed" at least 5 other schemes that were going to be signed up any minute. How about some real investigative reporting on how the "catch 22" is always the obligatory flats and hotel to make the developer big bucks and some quirky feature that suckers in the Council - Spitfires on sticks, Titanic museums in Tents etc.
Let them have free access to the waterfront, with something to attract visitors not a tatty old park that for 3 months of the year is closed for the Boat Show preparations.
Ask the people what they want do not give them something they do not want
allsaintsnocurves, Southampton says...
5:38pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Top class architects is a start especially if they have ambitious plans up their sleeve with comparisons to Sydney and Boston. I don't think people think of those places because of the flats there or that they have a super casino though so i will be very interested to see what the designers come up with.
It's about time Southampton had something to rival the Spinnaker tower...maybe the concert venue can be a design like the Sydney Opera house and be the corner stone to the city...
SW: able-area
Jammy Donut, Brook says...
6:40pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Ian24, Sholing says...
6:53pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Of places like Sydney and Boston on "fact finding trips" rather than to get anything built.
Free trips for freemasons.
allsaintsnocurves, Southampton says...
7:08pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Jammy Donut wrote:sure...all you have to do is spit out the negative rubbish you've been sipping on and try something new...something altogether optimistic...just maybe they might get this right and Southampton will have a snowdome, and ice rink and people actually commenting on how the city has improved.
Whatever your smoking can I have some............
Now i'm not saying for one minute that i've been happy about all the visions of this and the previous councils because to be perfectly honest I think they should have had a much better vision for the transportation around the city centre years ago and we would all be reaping the benefits of it now!
There are a few plots in Southampton though that are quite exciting with what they can do with them...and I'm sure they will be looking to avoid another Ocean Village disaster!
Justabloke, Southampton says...
7:15pm Mon 15 Mar 10
v_dubman2005, southampton says...
7:41pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Waysider, West End says...
7:56pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Condor Man, Southampton says...
9:10pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Southampton Heart, Living Near Manchester says...
9:13pm Mon 15 Mar 10
I'll design a scheme free of charge.
Lord Ikea, totton says...
9:45pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Why are people so dead keen to "attract visitors to Southampton"? All they do is clog up the roads and car parks fill the shops while they do window shopping and generally get in the way of normal Southampton folk trying to do their shopping.
Some might say visitors bring in money to the area but they don't. They spend money in American owned burger shops or coffee bars or swedish furniture outlets.
The boat show is for outsiders who drive in for the day and then drive home again, last year the organisers where trying hard to encourage locals to actually go to it.
Let the council make Southampton nice for the people who live here and call it home and encorage more locals to come into town. It is like making your house nice for visitors but you don't like living there.
I call Southampton home and I love Southampton but if this carbukle goes ahead I'm moving to Sydney (at least it's sunny there).
Southampton Heart, Living Near Manchester says...
10:43pm Mon 15 Mar 10
Southampton Heart wrote:I'd start with:
I'd love to have a go.....who needs an Architect to come up with a fancy concept!!!. I'll design a scheme free of charge.
a) interesting walkways (for all) along side or over the water
b) hi-tec water features with music and lights
c) a sculpture...like the Spitfire (as mentioned last year).
d) etc etc.
The above could be arranged around Mayflower Park....keeping the lawned areas and planting to a high standard.
See...sorted....I just saved the Council time and money. LOL.
The Wickham Man, Fareham says...
7:20am Tue 16 Mar 10
Southampton Heart wrote:And it would be rubbish. If you don't even understand what the job of an architect entails (which you clearly don't) why bother posting?
I'd love to have a go.....who needs an Architect to come up with a fancy concept!!!.
I'll design a scheme free of charge.
v_dubman2005, southampton says...
9:29am Tue 16 Mar 10
The Wickham Man wrote:Hey Wickham. Do you see that bit on the end of Hearts next post"LOL"...........
Southampton Heart wrote:And it would be rubbish. If you don't even understand what the job of an architect entails (which you clearly don't) why bother posting?
I'd love to have a go.....who needs an Architect to come up with a fancy concept!!!.
I'll design a scheme free of charge.
.Thats there to show it was a joke........Get it now?
MrGMan, Shirley says...
10:36am Tue 16 Mar 10
Beer Monster, Hythe says...
1:08pm Tue 16 Mar 10
It's currently running from the Red Jet terminal due to health and safety issues...
Waysider, West End says...
3:11pm Tue 16 Mar 10
MrGMan wrote:The answer MrGMan, is in the mirror on your wall.
I'd still like to know who is going to pay for the redevelopment on the royal pier and all these fancy things being suggested on this thread.
Southampton Heart, Living Near Manchester says...
8:28pm Tue 16 Mar 10
v_dubman2005 wrote:Haha....Mr Wickham....only if you knew what my job was........eat your words...and get back to your bed before the Nurse comes.
The Wickham Man wrote:Hey Wickham. Do you see that bit on the end of Hearts next post"LOL"........... .Thats there to show it was a joke........Get it now?Southampton Heart wrote: I'd love to have a go.....who needs an Architect to come up with a fancy concept!!!. I'll design a scheme free of charge.And it would be rubbish. If you don't even understand what the job of an architect entails (which you clearly don't) why bother posting?
Southampton Heart, Living Near Manchester says...
8:30pm Tue 16 Mar 10
v_dubman2005 wrote:Haha....Mr Wickham....only if you knew what my job was........eat your words...and get back to your bed before the Nurse comes.
The Wickham Man wrote:Hey Wickham. Do you see that bit on the end of Hearts next post"LOL"........... .Thats there to show it was a joke........Get it now?Southampton Heart wrote: I'd love to have a go.....who needs an Architect to come up with a fancy concept!!!. I'll design a scheme free of charge.And it would be rubbish. If you don't even understand what the job of an architect entails (which you clearly don't) why bother posting?
PS: I thought I'd post this twice in case you didn't get it Mr Wickham.
WATERFRONT: Mayflower Park and the Royal Pier
The old Royal Pier complex on fire in 1987
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DCM, Southampton says...
12:14pm Mon 15 Mar 10