3.14 External Social Spaces

A leisure strategy should offer walking and exercise routes around Ladyfield that are accessible, safe and overlooked. This means good, directional signage explaining how easy or difficult a route may be, and how long it will take to walk. The signage strategy should be accessible and dementia-friendly.

Four routes around the site have been identified to encourage people to walk around their local area, each one featuring different themes to provide variety and interest.

• The Monkey Puzzle Path is a 2.2km route and takes a peripheral loop around Ladyfield.

• The Village Green Gambol is an active 1.5km route which will include exercise equipment along the way to encourage physical activity.

• The Ladyfield Loop is a relaxed 1km amble, taking in the orchard next to Hannahfield House, with views to the mansion and outwards towards Criffel.

• The Crichton Canter, 5km route.

A growing strategy for Ladyfield will offer opportunity for people to grow fruit and vegetables near to their homes, as well as the opportunity to use the larger allotment / community gardens. Incorporating public growing areas with planting beds will provide residents with space to enjoy the benefits of growing and gardening.

The growing strategy should be supplemented by fruiting hedges and orchards that can be used to harvest fruits during the appropriate season, or as a healthy snack when travelling from one place to another.

A variety of fruit trees and fruiting hedges that are native to the area and suitable for the climate should be incorporated into a planting proposal.

Community composting helps to keep green-waste out of landfill and helps to provide a resource which can be reinvested into community growing projects.

“Development proposals that will have positive effects on health will be supported. This could include, for example, proposals that incorporate opportunities for exercise, community food growing or allotments.”

- NPF4, Policy 23

3.15 Integrating to The Crichton Quarter

Ladyfield plays a significant role within the wider Crichton Quarter and can act as a catalyst for a number of positive changes. This will integrate the existing neighbourhoods into a broader liveable place which supports a 20-minute intergenerational neighbourhood in a heritage setting.

The Crichton Quarter Development Framework and The Crichton Trust Masterplan and Development Framework both establish the principles of The Crichton Quarter being a distinct place within the broader town of Dumfries. These adopted strategies set out the broad principles for ensuring the area has a strong ‘sense of place’ which this masterplan will build upon.

The Ladyfield development is an opportunity to better connect the neighbourhoods around the site with each other and with The Crichton itself. This masterplan makes a series of recommendations to enhance The Crichton Quarter. This will reflect the distinct heritage and landscape setting of the area whilst embracing positive change.

These recommendations are focused around a number of key interventions, which have been tested through consultation with key stakeholders and community engagement. They will encourage active travel, reduce flood risk, create a safer network of roads and facilitate a 20-minute neighbourhood.

The future development at Ladyfield will require ongoing work with a range of partner organisations to deliver improvements that will:

• Create a stronger sense of place across The Crichton Quarter through improved placemaking, streetscape, lighting and wayfinding strategies.

• Facilitate better links across the adopted Glencaple Road between The Crichton and Ladyfield in line with the strategy of this masterplan

• Make improvements to Glencaple Road to make this slower for vehicles and safer for pedestrians whilst integrating green-blue infrastructure to reduce flood risk.

• Make a safer pedestrian environment around Brownhall School.

• Make improvements to Kingholm Road to make this slower for vehicles and safer for pedestrians whilst integrating green-blue infrastructure to reduce flood risk.

• Improve the sense of place around the historic core of Kingholm Quay through improved placemaking, streetscape, lighting and wayfinding strategies.

• Provide new and improved active travel links particularly connecting into existing infrastructure such as NCN7 along River Nith.

• Explore the opportunity to integrate Hannahfield House and Ladyfield House into the Ladyfield development by breathing new life into these invaluable assets. For example, these derelict buildings could be re-purposed to deliver models of care that support people to live independently and reduce pressure on our acute health services and to provide a Future Skills Academy to support the teaching of new building skills.

The masterplan recognises that these wider improvements are being recommended at a time when there is very significant pressure on public sector finances. The Crichton Trust are therefore committed to leading an additional workstream that will bring key stakeholders together to explore innovative ways of funding these initiatives. This will included engaging with individuals and charities that have a stated interest in making funding available for innovations that aim to reduce the ongoing impacts of climate change.

Traffic Calming

Crichton Quarter

Gateway Point

Traffic Calming

Traffic Calming

Traffic Calming

Key Connection and New Public Space

Traffic Calming

Crichton Central and Crichton Projects

Traffic Calming

Traffic Calming

Kingholm Quay

Placemaking

Traffic Calming

Crichton Quarter

Gateway Point