6.4 Highgate
Original Document
Highgate is one of the largest residential communities in the city centre, but is also a significant employment area. It has a range of housing, much of which is social housing, including semi-detached properties, terraces and tower blocks. It also contains one of the most important open spaces – Highgate Park – some interesting buildings including the Grade II listed Paragon Hotel and several very fine industrial buildings. It will be the location for the St Albans Academy. It is also the location of the Central Mosque, which is a landmark building and has one of the largest congregations in the UK.
However, the quality of the housing stock is variable, and the surrounding environment could be better. Open spaces, for example, are often incremental, left over spaces. Some of the industrial premises consist of low rise and space-hungry warehouses and work-spaces of a mixed age and quality.
Highgate Park does not meet its full potential. It is unimaginatively landscaped, has little park furniture and has large areas of hard surfacing. The park therefore has considerable scope for change and improvement.
The great advantage of Highgate is that it has an existing long established residential community that can be developed and extended to form an outstanding new residential area and a focus for family living within the city centre. A substantial growth in population will help to support more local shops and community facilities, support new public transport services and make better use of the Park. This will be better for the community that already lives there. Better facilities in Highgate can also benefit the neighbouring areas of Birmingham outside the Ring Road, including Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath if connections across the road are improved. Highgate also has a long ring road frontage which offers the opportunity for selective redevelopment to improve the image of the area and the entrances into the city centre from this direction.
The transformation of Highgate cannot come without better connections to the city core, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists. There is scope for creating a fine new walking route – the “Highgate Walk” from the south side of the city’s core.
Residential growth of this kind and any proposed new route will almost certainly result in the displacement of some industrial activity. There are some very long established businesses in the area which provide significant employment and these may seek to remain. This will have implications for the design and development of the areas around. The approach to the development of Highgate will have to take this into account and will require a fine-grained and sensitive strategy.
Highgate (Popup full image)Plain English Translation
Highgate is one of the largest residential areas in the city centre but it is also where a lot of people work. Most of the housing is social housing. Highgate contains:
- Highgate Park, one of the most important open spaces in Birmingham.
- Paragon Hotel, a Grade II listed building.
- Several fine older industrial buildings.
- The location of the proposed St Alban’s Academy, which would see St Alban’s CE Specialist Engineering College be rebuilt to be larger and create a Birmingham Academy.
- Birmingham Central Mosque.
The quality of housing varies and the outdoor areas could be better. Open spaces are often unplanned, left-over spaces. Work spaces can sometimes be old, large, low-rise warehouses of poor quality.
Highgate Park does not meet its full potential. It is unimaginatively landscaped, has few benches or park furniture and large areas of concrete. The park can be dramatically improved.
There has been a strong residential community in Highgate for a long time. This can be developed to build a new residential area for families living in the city centre. More people living in Highgate will support more local shops, community facilities, new public transport services and make better use of the park. Better facilities will also help neighbouring areas on the other side of the ring road, such as Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath. For these areas to benefit connections across the ring road will need to be improved. Highgate fronts onto a long stretch of the ring road. Redeveloping this stretch will improve Highgate’s image and make it a better route into the city centre.
Highgate therefore has the potential for a big transformation with its mews, the park and being within walking distance to the city centre, it can be a desirable residential area. This would help deliver the ‘LIVE LOCAL’ ambition. There could be a variety of 3 and 4 storey houses, mews houses, maisonettes and some apartments with their own gardens, balconies and roof terraces. The area could form a focus for family city living. With the right mix of housing, schools and local facilities it could attract both professionals and those who need affordable housing.
Highgate needs better connections to the city core, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists. We could possibly create a fine new walking route – the “Highgate Walk” from the south side of the city’s core.
Residential development will mean that ome local industries are displaced. There are some longstanding local businesses that will want to remain. This will affect the design of the areas around them. The development of Highgate will need to be sensitive to these local businesses.