St
James lies in the west of the Plan area and falls entirely within the administrative
boundary of the City of Port of Spain. Its area is approximately 155 ha. It is bounded in the north by the City’s administrative boundary,
in the south by the Mucarapo Road/Waterfront, west by Fort George Road and
east by Long Circular Road and the Maraval River.
The topography of St James is generally flat. In the north the land begins to rise into the foothills of the Northern
Range.
St
James is a predominantly medium density, middle to lower middle income residential
settlement. The predominant form is
that of residential lots of 450m2 and smaller, accommodating single
or two-family dwellings. The residential
population has however nearly halved since the 1960’s, from approximately
13,000 in 1960 down to 7,450 in 1990. There has been a corresponding decline in the housing stock.
Among
the districts of the plan area St James is unique in that it has a significant
East Indian population. Historically
this has added to its rich and diversified culture, and has also influenced
its architecture.
The
district has its own commercial core centred on the Western Main Road. It is also very well known for its cultural
and entertainment activities. It hosts
the annual ‘Hosay’ (Islamic) festival as well as several Carnival functions. There are five steel band yards in the district.
St
James has significant amount of institutional land. There is one Health Centre and the St James Medical Complex, which
includes the national cancer treatment centre. There is a police station, post office, two cemeteries, a military
cemetery and a crematorium. There
three primary and five large secondary schools.
Camp
Ogden, a facility of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment, which accommodates
the headquarters of one of its branches, is also in this district. In the northeast of the district there
is Long Circular Mall, a planned shopping centre (one of the country’s first).
An outline of existing land use activities is provided in Figure 10.1.
Significant
planning issues that affect the St James district include:
·
A
steady decline in the resident population and housing stock;
·
Increasing
growth of unauthorised commercial uses in residential neighbourhoods;
·
Unauthorised
strip commercial development along Kathleen, Delhi and Patna Streets, and
Long Circular and Mucurapo Roads;
·
Deterioration
of the important link/connector function of several east–west roads;
·
Continued
unplanned housing in the hills north of the district leading to flooding in
low lying areas;
·
Very
limited vacant (opportunity) land for new development;
·
Fair
to poor quality of a sizeable portion of the housing stock.
Some
of the factors that may account for the above issues are summarised in the
table below:
St James: Key Issues and Impacts
|
ISSUE |
POSSIBLE CAUSES |
IMPACTS |
|
Decline in population and housing |
New young families moving out and older parents remaining because of high housing costs and limited new affordable housing. Deteriorating and unattractive residential environments, given commercial intrusions, and traffic congestion. |
Declining vibrancy of the City. Increased commuting. Increased commercial intrusion |
|
Growing unauthorised commercial development in residential neighbourhoods |
Non-existent enforcement against planning breeches. Demonstration of need |
Negative effect on the quality of residential neighbourhoods. Negative impact on viability of City’s CBD |
|
Unauthorised strip commercial along key roads |
Non-existent enforcement against planning breeches. Seeking to take advantage of potential travelling customers |
Longer travel times Decline in productivity Pushing out housing |
|
Traffic congestion along important connector roads |
Commercial uses High rates of commuting Poor traffic management |
Longer travel times Decline in productivity |
|
Flooding in low lying areas |
Hillside degradation Poor maintenance of drains Reclamation |
Property destruction Decline in productivity Population exodus |
|
Limited vacant (opportunity) sites |
Land shortage |
Continued exodus of population |
Possible
solutions for improvements in this area are identified below;
|
ISSUE |
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS |
|
Decline in population and housing |
Upgrading areas of substandard housing, e.g. in the Fort George Road area Allowing increased residential densities Improving residential neighbourhood environments Permitting specified, appropriate mixed uses in residential areas Enforcing against unauthorised development |
|
Growing unauthorised commercial development in residential neighbourhoods |
Redefining / expanding the central district commercial core |
|
Unauthorised strip commercial along key roads |
|
|
Traffic congestion along important connector roads |
|
|
Flooding in low lying areas |
|
|
Limited vacant (opportunity) sites |
|
The
preferred land use approach for the St James district is illustrated in Figure
10.2.
Suggested
implementation mechanisms and next steps in the plan process are outlined
below. They focus on:
(i)
Consultation with a wide range of public sector agencies including the Town
and Country Planning Division.
(ii)
Public participation (see also section 13) involving:
·
Advertise
in print press and radio
·
Indicate
process, place and time of meetings
·
Meetings
process place time
·
Poster
displays in public places, libraries,
·
Identify
all relevant sector issues and agencies
·
All
stakeholders
·
Pamphlets,
display
·
Demonstrate
participatory process
·
Demonstrate
transparency in decision making