Section 3: About the Hoe Neighbourhood Area

3.1 Introduction to the Hoe

3.1.1 
This section describes the Hoe Neighbourhood Area. It provides:

• A brief history of the area and how it has developed into the place it is today
• Data on population; deprivation; employment; housing; crime; health; education; communities and environment, access and transport

The key evidence base documents and data sets used to establish this analysis of the Hoe Neighbourhood Area are listed in the Evidence Base on the Hoe Neighbourhood Forum website.

3.1.2 
Plymouth, known locally as “Britain’s Ocean City”, sits within South Devon at the confluence of the rivers Plym and Tamar, where they flow into the English Channel. The maritime location of Plymouth has influenced its history and development as a naval port and key trading city in the south west of England. The coastal location and backdrop of Dartmoor National Park provide a unique setting. Plymouth Hoe lies on the southern side of the city centre overlooking Plymouth Sound.

3.1.3 
“The Hoe”, a name derived from the Anglo-Saxon for ‘high place’, is formed by the ridge of hard, grey limestone that runs across the southern edge of Plymouth.

3.1.4 
The Hoe itself is a south-facing public open space and a landmark within the city. The Hoe sits above a stretch of low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and provide elevated views of Plymouth Sound, Drake’s Island, and Mount Edgecumbe. Plymouth Hoe projects like a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water – Sutton Harbour to the east, Plymouth Sound to the south, and Millbay Docks to the west. The Hoe Park (a Registered Park and Garden) is centrally located and represents an extensive area of public realm. It is located at the summit of a long north-facing slope, rising from Notte Street on the southern periphery of Armada Way. The approach from the north, the direction in which most visitors approach the Hoe, gives no indication until almost the last moment of the grand vista across Plymouth Sound which the Hoe provides.

3.1.5 
The Hoe Neighbourhood Area (Figure 1) is in the ward of St Peter and the Waterfront and its boundaries are loosely based on the Hoe Conservation Area:

• To the west, where the boundary is formed by Great Western Road and West Hoe Road;
• To the north, where the boundary is formed by the roads going from the junction of West Hoe Road and Millbay Road, travelling along Millbay Road and crossing over to the service road behind the New Continental Hotel to join the Crescent at its most northerly point, it then continues along the Crescent to its junction with Princess Way before going down Princess Way to the junction with Princess Street, along Princess Street to its junction with Lockyer Street, then north on Lockyer Street to its junction with Notte Street, where it continues east to the junction of Notte Street and Hoegate Street;
• To the east, where the boundary is formed by Hoegate Street, Lambhay Hill, and Madeira Road; and
• To the south, where the boundary is the foreshore south of Madeira Road, Hoe Road, and Grand Parade to its junction with Great Western Road.

Figure 1: The Hoe Neighbourhood Area

3.2 A Brief History of The Hoe

3.2.1 
The Hoe is a place with rich historical associations, from Drake's game of bowls on the eve of the Spanish Armada, to Lady Astor’s morale-raising wartime dances – the Hoe’s place in history has enhanced its civic and symbolic focus as Plymouth city’s heart and has attracted visitors for many years. This history has left an extensive legacy of fine buildings, monuments, landscape, traditions and uses, which all contribute to the special character of the Hoe. Figure 2 below provides a snapshot of the Hoe’s long history of development. (This description was sourced from the Hoe Conservation Area Assessment and Management Plan.)

3.2.2 
Its exposed situation and thin, rocky soil makes it likely that the Hoe was always a largely open space, and the proximity of this space to the historic town, and its commanding aspect over Plymouth Sound, have made it a natural gathering and rallying point from early times. The story that the townspeople maintained a monument on the Hoe, possibly a medieval image cut into the ground of two giants holding clubs ('Gogmagog'), suggests that it had acquired a special significance from an early date, and a medieval chapel (St Katherine's) is known from the 14th century.

3.2.3 
Certainly its military potential was recognised early on. The Hoe was an obvious vantage point to warn of approaching danger and to defend the increasingly important port. After the Spanish Armada threat of 1588, work began on a fort at the eastern end of the Hoe in 1592, and parts of this fort were incorporated into the larger Royal Citadel, begun in 1665. A large parade ground was created along the Hoe ridge to the west. The Citadel is still in military use, and its presence dominates the eastern end of the Hoe. Map evidence makes it clear however that the greater part of the Hoe westwards of the Citadel was effectively undeveloped before the 19th century except for a small area on the east side of Millbay.

3.2.4 
Development came with the increasing expansion of the historic town to north and west beyond its historic boundaries, and with the developing fashion for public parks. The Hoe was used as a municipal park from 1817, though not formally laid out until 1887, when the military surrendered the earthworks surrounding the Citadel. It subsequently acquired numerous park structures, street furniture, monuments and memorials.

3.2.5 
John Foulston, Plymouth's foremost architect and town planner of the early-mid 19th century, and his pupil Wightwick, began laying out and building a number of terraces to the north west of the park area from the 1830s onwards, of which Athenaeum Street (c.1829), Lockyer Street and Alfred Street (1820s/30s) and the Esplanade (1836) are prime examples. Some of the limestone for the expansion may have come from extensive quarries at West Hoe, described as 'new' in 1830, later incorporated into the waterfront park. By the end of the 19th century the area between the Hoe Park and Millbay was intensively built up.

3.2.6 
The fashion for public parks was echoed in the fashion for outdoor bathing. Plymouth responded eagerly. Natural rock pools along the Hoe foreshore were enlarged to form bathing pools, and structures began to appear among the rock outcrops to provide dressing rooms and refreshment areas. The resultant mix of natural and man-made forms remains a prominent characteristic of the foreshore. The trend for bathing reached its heyday in the interwar years when Plymouth boasted more than sixty hotels, most within the Hoe area. Between 1932-1940, Borough Engineers, J. Wibberley and J Paton Watson, commissioned significant redevelopment along the foreshore, with the focus on the design of the new Art Deco pool, Tinside Lido, its bathing house, and the Colonnade behind.

3.2.7 
The post-war redevelopment of the city centre following Patrick Abercrombie’s Plan for Plymouth aimed to reinforce the position of the Hoe as the heart of the city and reconnect it to the city centre. It envisaged a whole new geometric street pattern for the centre with the new axis and vista of Armada Way linking North Cross and the railway station through the city centre to the Hoe, focused on Lorimer’s naval war memorial of 1924.

3.2.8 
The Hoe remains the iconic heart of the city - in the words of the MacKay Vision 'an extraordinary waterside setting that competes with other waterside cities throughout the UK and Europe’. Today the neighbourhood combines residential streets and local amenities (St Andrew’s Primary School, West Hoe shopping parade, West Hoe GP surgery), with pubs, cafes, and restaurants serving visitors and residents alike. Parks and green spaces provide abundant leisure opportunities, as does the foreshore and waterfront.

Figure 2: Plymouth Hoe timeline of historical development

3.3 Hoe Conservation Area

3.3.1 
The Hoe Conservation Area covers an area of approximately 33 hectares between the southern edge of the City Centre and the waterfront.

3.3.2 
The Hoe Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan divides the area into four character areas:

1. The Citadel – built as a fortress, and still in military use
2. The Hoe Park – an open recreational area and public arena with one of the finest settings in the world
3. The residential streets – concentrated in the north west of the Conservation Area, much of which was based on Foulston and Wightwick's layouts and designs
4. The Waterfront – the narrow stretch of rocky foreshore, containing a number of late 19th and 20th century bathing structures

3.3.3 
The Hoe Conservation Area encompasses some of the most historic parts of Plymouth City Centre, including the Royal Citadel (a scheduled monument), the Hoe Park (a Grade 2 listed park), a Grade 1 National monument, the National War Memorial, and 68 listed buildings.

3.4 Environmental Designations

3.4.1 
The Hoe Neighbourhood Area benefits from a number of environmental designations and protections:

• The foreshore is a County Wildlife Site and the waters of Plymouth Sound are a National Marine Park
• A woodland improvement area within the Hoe Park of high spatial priority
• A priority wood pasture and parkland habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan
• The Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan allocates the following areas as city or neighbourhood green spaces: The Hoe (including the green area on Armada Way by Crowne Plaza); Hoe Foreshore; land off Madeira Road (Citadel slopes); West Hoe Park; Millbay Park; land off Hoe Road (slopes opposite Citadel Road); Radford Road (West Hoe Tennis Courts); and the Mound (Hoe) (an area opposite the Citadel gates).

3.4.2 
In terms of flood risk, most of the foreshore is categorised as high risk for tidal flooding. The whole of the Hoe Neighbourhood Area is in a Critical Drainage Area, meaning there is significant risk of flooding from surcharged sewers.

3.4.3 
Figure 3 shows the designations and allocations in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area including area boundaries, green spaces, heritage assets, and other features.
 

Figure 3: Designations and allocations of the Hoe Neighbourhood Area

3.5 Population

3.5.1 
The Hoe Neighbourhood Area does not map exactly onto an area for which local statistics are collected. The Hoe Neighbourhood Area is within the St Peter and Waterfront Ward. The Plan area equates to the following Output Areas (E00076579, E00076580, E00172057, E00076532, E00076539, E00076534, E00076577 and
E00076584). (Output Areas are the lowest level of geographical area for census statistics.) These Output Areas have been used throughout as a statistical proxy for the Neighbourhood Area boundary and which can be interrogated through data from the 2021 Census. 

3.5.2 
2021 census data indicates that the population living within the Hoe Neighbourhood Area is estimated to be 2,412, split 52% males and 48% females.

3.5.3 
The age group breakdown of those living within the Hoe Neighbourhood Area compared to Plymouth and England is shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Age group breakdown of those living in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area

3.5.4 
Given the population of the Hoe Neighbourhood Area (estimated at 2,412) and the area covered (33 hectares / 0.33 square kilometres), the population density of the Hoe Neighbourhood Area is in the region 7,309 persons per square kilometre, this compares to 3,308 persons per square kilometre across Plymouth and a population density of 434 for the whole of England.

3.6 Deprivation

3.6.1
The Indices of Deprivation 2019 are a relative measure of deprivation for small areas (Lower-layer Super Output Areas) across England. The overall Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 combines indicators under seven different domains of deprivation: Income; Employment; Education Skills and Training; Health and Disability; Crime; Barriers to Housing and Services; and Living Environment. A higher score indicates that an area is experiencing higher levels of deprivation.

3.6.2 
According to the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 -- Plymouth Summary Analysis, St Peter and the Waterfront and Devonport Wards have been Plymouth’s two most deprived wards since 2007, with the St Peter and the Waterfront remaining the most deprived ward in Plymouth for a number of years since 2015.

3.6.3 
The Hoe Neighbourhood Area has an Index of Multiple Deprivation score of 36.71. This means that Hoe Neighbourhood Area has higher levels of deprivation compared to Plymouth (26.62) and higher levels of deprivation compared to England (21.76). A review of the domains of deprivation follows. 

3.6.4 
Table 3 shows the percentage of people working in full or part-time roles in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area and across Plymouth.

Table 3: Full-time or part-time employment in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area and Plymouth Employment (2022)

3.6.5 
Data also shows that 88% of people in Hoe Neighbourhood Area work in the private sector compared to 77% across the whole of Plymouth.

Table 4: Public and private sector employees in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area and Plymouth Employment Sector (2022)

3.6.6 
The proportion of working age people receiving benefits for unemployment in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area was 3.89% in August 2024. This is slightly higher than the average across Plymouth (3.60%) but lower than the average across England (4.36%).

Housing

3.6.7 
In the Hoe Neighbourhood Area, 38.33% of households are owner-occupied, which is lower than the proportion of households in Plymouth (58.82%) and a lower proportion than in England overall (62.32%).

3.6.8 
The majority of households on the Hoe live in the private rented sector (53.3%). This proportion is higher than Plymouth (20.2%) and England (16.8%) as a whole. Furthermore, 15.8% of households live in socially rented houses, as compared to 19.3% in Plymouth and 17.7% in England. Just 0.2% of households live in shared ownership homes.

3.6.9 
In terms of the existing stock of housing, the data shows that the Hoe area has a large percentage of flats, more than double that of Plymouth and England. Much of the large terraced housing in the area has been converted into smaller flats. However, the percentage of both semi-detached and terraced houses is much lower than both the comparator geographies, and the near total absence of detached housing is a key area of divergence.

3.6.10 
The housing stock on the Hoe is also characterised by generally smaller dwellings than that of Plymouth, with only 5.4% of homes on the Hoe having seven or more rooms, compared with 17.6% in Plymouth. The Hoe area housing is 91.4% flats, compared to only 21.8% in Plymouth. This is common in urban areas where smaller properties meet demand from younger households.

3.6.11 
Linked to the large number of flats, 87.7% of all dwellings on the Hoe have one or two bedrooms – this is the most common type of dwelling in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area. The 2021 Census indicates fewer than 37 dwellings had 5 bedrooms or more, while over 1,336 dwellings had either one or two bedrooms.

3.6.12 
In terms of household composition, The Hoe’s population has seen a significant demographic change in the form of a declining percentage of people aged 65 and over, one-person households aged 65+ declined by 23.7%, while family households (couples aged 65+) decreased by 9.8%. The Hoe Neighbourhood Area’s population of other household types (such as multi-family and shared households) increased by nearly 65.4%, which is much faster than in the district and England. These households are often younger households willing to share larger properties (e.g., houses in multiple occupation).

3.6.13 
The Hoe Housing Needs Assessment found that that housing affordability is a challenge. While the average price of a house in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area in the period June 2023 to May 2024 is comparable with Plymouth, the costs of terraced houses and flats in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area are significantly higher than those in Plymouth overall.

Table 5: Mean house prices by type across the Hoe Neighbourhood Area and Plymouth

3.6.14 
Whilst average prices are low in comparison to other areas of the country, lower than average local incomes for those living in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area mean that both renting and home ownership are unaffordable to local people, even where two household members might be earning. These market conditions mean that second home owners and investors from outside the area are likely to see prices as attractive for investment, particular because the Hoe is a tourist destination and homes can produce a good return as short-term holiday lets. Hoe Neighbourhood Forum members report that this has affected the accessibility of both sale and rental homes for permanent residents. This is borne out by a report prepared by Colliers in 2019, which shows that Plymouth experienced significant growth in the AirBnB market from 2014 onwards.

3.6.15 
The Hoe Housing Needs Assessment, prepared by AECOM in October 2020, found that while the area’s proportion of those aged 65-84 and 85 and over is only marginally greater than wider Plymouth, there is a large cohort of people in the age group likely to enter retirement age over the Plan period. While the Hoe area may not have experienced an aging of the population to the same extent as Plymouth and England in recent years, that trend can be expected to accelerate over the Plan period.

Crime

3.6.16 
Based on data for individual crime incidents published via the Police UK open data portal, there were 232 total crime offences in Hoe Neighbourhood Area between June 2023 to May 2024, with the overall crime rate being 79.8 per 1,000 population. This is higher than the average across Plymouth (60.0) and lower than the average across England (118.1).

3.6.17 
However, the overall crime rate in Hoe Neighbourhood Area has decreased from 496.4 per 1,000 people between September 2018 to August 2019 to 79.8 per 1,000 people between June 2023 to May 2024.

3.6.18 
Data for anti-social behaviour incidents between June 2023 to May 2024 shows that public order offences and theft from individual people for the Hoe Neighbourhood Area were double those recorded for the whole of Plymouth.

Health

3.6.19 
The 2021 Census data shows that people living in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area view their health in similar ways to those living in Plymouth as a whole.

 Figure 4: How those living in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area view their health

3.6.20 
The green and blue spaces in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area (such as the Hoe Park, Millbay Park, West Hoe Park, and the waterfront and foreshore) serve local residents and visitors, providing space for activities that bring people together for sporting, recreational, and informal leisure uses that enhance health and well-being, and strengthen collective identity.

3.6.21 
In terms of health care providers, the Hoe Neighbourhood Area is served by a GP surgery in West Hoe and one private dental practice.

Education

3.6.22 
Those living in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area have above the average levels of qualifications when compared to those living across Plymouth and England:

• 15.73% of all people aged over 16 in Hoe Neighbourhood Area have no qualifications. This is lower than the average for Plymouth (17.33%) and lower than the average in England (18.08%).
• 37.14% of people aged 16+ in Hoe Neighbourhood Area have degree level qualifications compared with 27.52% in Plymouth and 33.92% across England.

3.6.23 
In terms of education providers, St Andrews Church of England Primary School is the only school in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area. The school had 203 pupils on its roll in 2022, and the proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and the proportion of pupils with English as an additional language are above average.

Access, Transport, and Getting Around

3.6.24 
The Hoe Neighbourhood Area is centrally located on the Plymouth waterfront, adjoining the City Centre to the north, the Barbican to the east, and Millbay port to the west. The Hoe Park and the waterfront are popular destinations for locals and visitors from wider Plymouth and beyond, with high levels of pedestrian footfall and motor traffic including coaches. City heritage trails including the Hoe Trail, Plymouth Powerful Women, and the Mayflower Trail encourage walking and exploration of the local area on foot.

3.6.25 
Notte Street, which forms the Hoe Neighbourhood Area boundary to the north, is an important arterial route and part of Plymouth City Centre’s ring road. Citadel Road, which bisects the area from east to west is also well-used and can become congested during school-run times. A one-way system (with cycle contraflow) is in place to manage cars on the waterfront sections of Madeira Road and Hoe Road, these being very popular pedestrian routes and part of the South West Coast Path National Trail and National Cycle Route 27.

3.6.26 
Car ownership in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area is below average compared to the rest of Plymouth and nationally. This is probably due to a combination of factors including the volume of student and holiday accommodation in the area, the convenient proximity of City Centre amenities and public transport, and the disincentive of exclusions to the resident parking permit scheme. Table 6 summarises the comparative statistics on car ownership.

Table 6: Vehicle ownership in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area

3.6.27 
There is high demand for on-street parking, which for residents is subject to the Zone H Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) administered by Plymouth City Council, noting that property developments and conversions since 1997 are excluded from applying for resident parking permits.

3.6.28
The Indices of Deprivation Air Quality Measures indicate that the Hoe Neighbourhood Area has higher levels of air pollution than Plymouth. The high levels of air pollution in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area, despite its topography and location, result from the large volume of vehicular movements in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area.

3.6.29
The railway station and bus/coach station are approximately one mile away to the north of the Hoe Neighbourhood Area. The number 25 bus operates a half-hourly circular route connecting the Hoe, the Barbican and the City Centre. A seasonal open-top sightseeing bus operates between Royal Parade, the Barbican, the waterfront and Royal William Yard. Bus stops for services to wider Plymouth and the region are
located on Royal Parade in the City Centre.

Culture, Tourism and Economy

3.6.30 
The Hoe Neighbourhood Area is a focal point for Plymouth’s visitor economy. It is a destination for visits and family leisure and for events that attract local, regional, and national visitors, such as the annual British Fireworks Championships, live music performances, military events, and sailing races. The area also benefits from an abundance of heritage, leisure and environmental assets including the Citadel, Smeaton’s Tower, Tinside Lido, and the Hoe Park.

3.6.31 
The Hoe Neighbourhood Area is home to a diverse offering of visitor accommodation, from small independent hospitality providers to large international hotel chains. This hospitality infrastructure also serves the wider economy of Plymouth, hosting visitors to the city and its higher education institutes, to its theatres, museums and galleries, to sporting and cultural events, to Devonport Dockyard and Princess Yachts, and to its world-leading marine biological research facilities (the Marine Biological Association and Plymouth Marine Laboratory, both located on the Hoe).

3.7 Summary of Key Characteristics of the Hoe Neighbourhood Area

Area:   33 hectares	Population   2,412 people	Age Range   Under 16: 7% 16–64: 69% 65+: 24%	Population  Density   7,309 persons/km2
Heritage	Conservation area Scheduled monument Grade 2 listed park Grade 1 National Monument National War Memorial 68 listed buildings
Environment	County Wildlife Site National Marine Park Woodland improvement area Priority wood, pasture, and parkland habitat
Education 15.73%  no qualification 37.14%  degree level	Employment 58% Full Time 43% Part Time 3.89% Unemployed	Housing   91.4% flats 53.3% private rented housing	Index of Multiple Deprivation   Top 20% most deprived area