£5.6M PARK RESTORATION

Derby City Council's Planning Committee approved six planning applications which will allow improvements to start on the Arboretum. The £5.6 million to be spent on renovating the park will include a new 'heart of the park' building, new sports facilities, an imaginative play facility, the restoration of listed buildings and boundary walls, CCTV provision and landscape restoration. There will also be an increased Ranger presence on the park and an education facility. There are several underlying concepts behind the new 'heart of the park' building. The existing scatter of small buildings will be drawn together to enable good supervision/security. The building will include changing accommodation, Ranger office, toilets, police office, community rooms and cafe. By putting all the facilities in one building there will be greater flexibility to cater for community needs.

This particular location has been chosen because the building can overlook the play area and be close to the sports facilities. It will also sit at the intersection of the east/west, north/south paths, which will become the main routes through the park and will therefore provide an opportunity for natural surveillance of a large proportion of the park. It is a central location for what will become the hub of activity. As it is a new building and primarily serves activities on the Recreation Ground it will not be located in the historic Arboretum. The existing toilet block and depot currently occupy parts of the historic Arboretum and to further the restoration of the park the old toilet block will be removed and the depot reduced in size so that the original boundaries of the park can be reinstated. This is one of the reasons why it is not appropriate to site the heart of the park building on the Reginald Street site.

English Heritage have been fully consulted and given their approval to the design and location of the building. Their recommendations are that buildings should not try to imitate period pieces, but should be designed for the time in which they are built. The building has been designed by Randall Shaw Billingham Architects who have a proven track record in the restoration of historic buildings and the design of park buildings. The new building is robust, energy efficient and low maintenance. The old sports facilities will be replaced by 3 new courts, 2 synthetic grass and 1 tarmac, suitable for a wide range of sports. There will also be some cricket nets, which earlier consultation has indicated will be a well received new facility.

The park lodges will be fully restored and the pavilion at the Harriet Street entrance, that was demolished many years ago, will be rebuilt in its original style. Boundary walls, gates and railings to the original Arboretum will be restored to enable the historic part of the park to be locked at night. As part of the wider security provision for the area CCTV will be operational in the park in the next few months. The aim of the restoration scheme will be to adopt Loudon's original planting proposals where possible and will greatly increase the variety of shrubs and trees within the Arboretum.