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Inside Out: run-down of the South West's most rundown streets
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Inside Out South West returns for a brand new series on Wednesday 17 September at 7.30pm on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One with a look at the region's seven worst designed and ill-conceived streets.
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A couple of years ago, the Inside Out South West team sent University of Plymouth's Professor of Architecture, Jeremy Gould, across the region to name and shame the seven architectural blunders of the South West of England – buildings which, in his view, should never have been built.
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Professor Gould now returns to count down the seven worst streets that the region has to offer.
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Coming out on top, or perhaps bottom of the pile, was Exeter and Charles Street in Plymouth – which focuses on traffic above the pedestrian.
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Professor Gould comments that, when the road was originally designed as the inner ring-road for Plymouth, it was also the only route to catch the ferry or to get to Cornwall.
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The construction of the Saltash Bridge removed that through-traffic 40 years ago, but the street has not changed in all that time.
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Professor Gould says of Exeter and Charles Street: "It's still designed purely for cars – like Brands Hatch and Silverstone – but with road signs, traffic lights and an infernal clutter of rusty junk that goes under the name of 'street furniture'."
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He continues: "Really this isn't a street at all. It's just a busy road with some buildings thrown around it. That's not the way to make a great city or one that is pleasant to walk around."
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To aid him in his search for the region's poorest streets, Professor Gould took part in radio phone-ins on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Cornwall and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Devon where listeners had the opportunity to nominate streets they thought were a blot on the landscape.
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Professor Gould's criterion for what makes a good street consists of a place where cars, bikes and pedestrians can all be together in harmony. Where, when a person walks down the street, they feel safe and can walk without having to fight against traffic.
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Poorly designed streets contained unnecessary traffic lights and signs, badly laid out roads, poor materials and craftsmanship and public art. Ìý
Other areas to grace Professor Gould's top seven worst streets in the South West include Exeter, Torbay, Cornwall, Somerset and Barnstaple.
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The full list is revealed on Inside Out South West.
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Inside Out South West goes out on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One South West, Wednesday 17 September at 7.30pm and is also available online via the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iPlayer.
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