Parks, leisure and the arts Victoria Park Conservation Area

Improvement and enhancement

Once an exclusive residential suburb, parts of Victoria Park have declined over the years whereas other parts have retained much of their exclusivity. This is principally due to development, whether extensions to existing properties or re-development of their sites at a higher density.

Development in one form or another is very likely to take place at some time in the future. The important point is that it must be of very high quality and be in harmony with the character of the conservation area. This does not mean that new buildings must be in the style of older buildings in the conservation area; on the contrary, they should represent the age in which they are built, but there should be common features between new and old, such as massing, height, materials, colour, scale and proportion, which create a sympathy with earlier buildings. This would still allow the new building to demonstrate the vitality of the present, and is preferable to producing a debased copy of an historical architectural form.

Notice should be taken of the character of historic buildings when preparing new schemes. Features such as garden walls, hedges, gate posts, porches, styles and colours of window frames and roofing materials should all be taken into consideration. Their forms should be analysed and new buildings designed to harmonise with them.

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