Abbey Hulton - Masterplan

Ainsley Gommon working with ABRA were selected to masterplan the Abbey Hulton estate on the periphery of Stoke-on-Trent. Abbey Hulton is an estate of approximately 2700 homes including the neighbourhoods of Carmountside and Bucknall, all within the RENEW Pathfinder area and is served by five schools and a park. Consultation with the residents and stakeholders on the estate took a number of forms including weekend drop-in sessions at the Wallace Sports Centre, arts workshops involving local school children, and football training sessions run by Stoke City Football Club in the Community. The exhibition was also taken around the estate on the “FutureBuzz”, a converted library bus. Responses were collected from residents in the form of questionnaires and feedback sheets.

The consultation highlighted a strong sense of community and a continued desire to stay in Abbey Hulton and the resident’s concerns about the negative effect that poorly maintained areas of public open space was having on their homes and lives. The existing, neglected open areas gave the estate an overall, uncared for appearance, encouraging anti-social behaviour by gaoups of bored and disenchanted youths. By creative redesign, some of the green spaces were better designed to relate to the housing they serve, helping to reduce crime and allow residents a greater enjoyment of their area.

Ainsley Gommon later provided an update cataloguing the success of the masterplan through all the resulting estate improvements and projects.