Kingswood Area Action Plan - have your say!

The Kingswood Area Action Plan is currently being produced by Hull City Council. It is your opportunity to help influence how Kingswood develops and evolves in the next 15 years, ensuring it remains the best place to live in Hull. The past 15 years have seen huge economic benefits in Kingswood Parks with over 2,000 jobs created.

Residents only need reflect on the last 15 years in Kingswood to see what has been achieved so far in terms of shopping, leisure, business and residential opportunities. Now marks the start of another new era for the development and residents are being urged to have their say. Make sure your voice is heard in terms of what you think and what you want for the future of Kingswood, as the responses to this questionnaire will help shape the area’s future development. The success of the Area Action Plan will be helped by the number of residents who provide valuable feedback.

Area Action Plans are important documents because they set out development proposals for future housing, shops, businesses, services and facilities and transport links. They form a key part of the Council’s approach to planning and, once adopted, they are used to guide new development and to determine planning applications. It also helps plan for local employment opportunities. Meanwhile, the plan can help us look at the provision of not only shopping and jobs, but also community benefits and facilities. Voice readers will recall a feature in the last edition of the magazine about a potential £2m New Life church and community building, for example, and residents are actively encouraged to visit the Kingswood Parks website at www.kingswoodparks.co.uk to give us feedback on what new facilities they would like to see.

This is your opportunity to have a look at some of the things outlined below that could be provided or improved through the Area Action Plan process.

• Provide more housing within the development, and an even wider variety of house styles and sizes, offering residents in the area a lifelong, versatile place to live
• Extend the shopping area to allow for further shops and services. The addition of shops would add even more choice, providing an even greater range of national brands on residents’ doorsteps. Not only this, but hundreds more local jobs could be created and more car parking could be provided to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion
• Opportunity to provide affordable housing in carefully selected locations within the development
• Explore alternative uses for the undeveloped business park and employment sites, possibly with houses being developed on part of those areas reducing the possibilities of heavy vehicle movement
• Improve future footpath, cycle and road links, creating easier access to different parts of the development for residents and visitors
• Improve public transport routes in future phases, ensuring Kingswood’s links with the rest of the city and surrounding region are even stronger
• Make Kingswood greener, providing opportunities for residents to enjoy the beautiful outdoors, as we know walks, picnics and bike rides are all popular activities with people locally too
• Improve access to the River Hull
• Provide high quality green spaces, creating additional areas for children to play in and more open space for residents to enjoy. We shall shortly have some exciting news about a wildlife centre in Kingswood... watch this space!
• Provide more community facilities, further enhancing the sense of community spirit in Kingswood
• Continue to build a high quality environmentally friendly community with increased facilities and increased choice

The Kingswood Area Action Plan Issues & Options Questionnaire is out to public consultation between Monday 5th September and Monday 17th October, a copy is contained within this edition of the Voice.