New look gardens planned for Stevenage
SHOWING its age is Stevenage Town Centre Gardens. The main park in the centre of the town was created over 40 years ago. Now it is urgently in need of a facelift to transform it from an overgrown, underused, uninviting area into an accessible, valued publ
SHOWING its age is Stevenage Town Centre Gardens.
The main park in the centre of the town was created over 40 years ago.
Now it is urgently in need of a facelift to transform it from an overgrown, underused, uninviting area into an accessible, valued public park for everyone to enjoy.
Aiming to do that is Stevenage Borough Council which has secured a £500,000 grant to fund consultation and master planning stages for a new look park, along with some improvements to access.
The public were asked for their views at the park in the summer.
Now their help is being sought again with the master plan which will lead to the submission of a Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People application to implement it.
Most Read
- 1 11-year-old left with facial injuries after Stevenage dog attack
- 2 Ashbottom Close 'altercation' leaves man in his 20s with serious injuries
- 3 Hertfordshire under Met Office yellow warning for storms
- 4 Ford Focus and Vauxhall Insignia crash on A602 Stevenage Road
- 5 Three rail and bus strikes in London and the East this week
- 6 'Hitchin is the only place I've felt accepted'
- 7 Red panda Tilly gives birth to ‘miracle’ cub at Paradise Wildlife Park one month after passing of partner Nam Pang
- 8 Product sold at Tesco recalled due to risk of disease-causing bacteria
- 9 Village football club premises gets facelift thanks to bank staff
- 10 Scoring late makes it feel better than it is says Evans after Boro's late draw
Consultants are working on a design strategy for the gardens, which recognises the park's heritage status as the first new town centre gardens.
The project is to develop a high-quality staged master plan that incorporates community involvement at the earliest stage.
Through a series of arts-led workshops, people are introduced to the concept of "placemaking".with community-based teams being led by an artist and landscape architect, building on the consultation work already done in the summer.
Placemaking events are being held on October 31 and November 14. Organisers are looking for people who live near the Town Centre Gardens, or work in the town centre to join them for some refreshments and a chat to help them find out what they think of the park.
To find out more about the events, send a text message to 07794 552107 or email info@gunpowderpark.org with the subject 'TELL ME MORE'.
The master plan should be complete by January and the Heritage Lottery Fund bid will be submitted the next month.
The limited improvement works already funded will be done next spring. If the Lottery Fund bid is successful, work on the park will be complete in 2008.
