Nottingham, England

The wasteland site is situated between the inner-city area of Sneinton and Nottingham city centre. It has been derelict for a number of years despite various redevelopment plans which have included a Tesco superstore, a 'vibrant mixed use urban quarter' and, had England been successful in their bid to host the 2018 football World Cup, a football stadium. A single road (City Link) traverses it and divides the publicly accessible part of the site on the north from the fenced off area on the south. The publicly accessible part of the wasteland is used by dog-walkers and those seeking a short cut to the city centre or railway station. It is covered by various greenery during the summer months and is criss-crossed by a number of well-trodden paths.  The private part contains the burned out shells of two former Great Northern Railway warehouses and is littered with various fly-tipped items. It is fairly easy to gain access to the fenced off area and it is used by dog walkers and those seeking space away from the eyes of the city.

Land nick names, Neologisms and slang terms

The site is known locally as 'The Island' and has been branded as 'Eastside City' by developers URUK.

Location


Address

Nottingham NG2 4, UK , nottingham, england

Land Topography

Size of the Land in sqm (approx.)

137,000

Surfaces

  • Trees
  • Grass
  • Paths
  • Fly tipped household items
  • Empty bottles
  • Disused road
  • Road
  • Concrete floors of former buildings

Features

  • Remains of former factory buildings
  • Two burned out former railway warehouses
  • City Link Road
  • Numerous pathways
  • wide variety of flora and fauna (including rare bee orchids)

Land status and definition

Basic

  • Brownfield

Legal Status

  • In Private Ownership

Current Land Owner

Heathcote Holdings
<p>Very little known, other than that they are based in Guernsey.</p>

Known intended future use by the land owner(s)

'Vibrant mixed used urban quarter' (http://www.eastside-city.com/).

Redevelopment scheduled to have been completed by 2008, but no work has started and the 'marketing suite' is long closed. A Tesco superstore was proposed to kickstart this development but Tesco withdrew their application in May 2011, although it is not known whether they will reapply with new plans.

Historical (basic)

The site was formerly occupied by the warehouses and sidings of the Great Northern Railway and the pharmaceutical factories of Boots chemists. Ibuprofen was developed on the site and the railway warehouses (the shells of which remain) were designed by noted local architect T.C. Hine, who also designed the upmarket Park Estate to the west of the city centre. It's hoped that a more complete history will be written up as this project develops.

Weblinks

Land Access

Accessibility

  • Accessible

Around half of the wasteland is freely accessible to the public. A public road (City Link) traverses it and numerous pathways criss cross the site. The southern half is fenced off, but the fencing is not secure.

Borders

The site is bordered by roads and the railway: London Road on the west, Manvers Street on the east, the Nottingham-Grantham/Lincoln railway line on the south and Poplar Street and Evelyn Street on the north.

Land Users

Land is occupied by

  • Walkers
  • Artists
  • Drinkers
  • Dog-walkers
  • Commuters
  • Butterflies
  • Cats
  • Rats

Activities

Compare to Wasteland


Explorers

Methods

Latest Blog Entries

The Island: A Lament

21 Nov 2017 | Rebecca Beinart

24 November at 16:00–17:00 UTCEvelyn Street, Nottingham, NG1 1, United KingdomJoin us at dusk on Friday to lament the...

Wasted Common: a reading/viewing/listening list

24 Jun 2014 | David Bell

There were a lot of inspirations for Wasted Common, and I drew on a lot of peoples' research and ideas in making the...

Wasted Common on Resonance FM, June 24th/25th

05 Jun 2014 | David Bell

  At 8pm on Tuesday June 24th (and repeated the following morning at 9am) Resonance FM will be broadcasting 'Wasted...

Voices in a Field

16 Apr 2014 | David Bell

Commissioned by Wasteland Twinning Nottingham, Matthias Kispert's Voices in a Field is a collective vocal work...

The Wasteland Sculpture Park: A book project by Beth Bramich

14 Apr 2014 | Rebecca Beinart

Text by Beth Bramich. The Wasteland Sculpture Park A Collection of Proposals for Derelict Sites The Wasteland...

Recreation Ground Exhibition: An Overview

23 Jan 2014 | David Bell

Recreation Ground was an exhibition curated by Wasteland Twinning Nottingham. It ran at Attic Gallery, One Thoresby...

Desire lines symposium, 17 October

10 Oct 2013 | Rebecca Beinart

Desire lines: Art, Edgelands and the Urban Wilds Thursday 17th October, 2013 10am – 4.30pm (registration...

Voices in a Field - Participants Needed!

18 Sep 2013 | David Bell

Wasteland Twinning Nottingham has commissioned composer and sound artist Matthias Kispert to write a vocal work to be...

HS2 = Future Wastelands?

22 Apr 2013 | David Bell

As I've argued in recent posts, wastelands aren't simply made by accident - they're produced by political economy. This...

Creativity, Capital and Commons in the Contemporary City, Part 2

21 Apr 2013 | David Bell

This is the second part of a (slightly) edited version of a talk I gave to the Centre for the Study of Social and Global...

View all blog entries for this wasteland ›