Coventry’s new Linear Park wins major honour at the largest landscape awards in Europe
Coventry’s new Linear Park has scooped a major national honour at the largest landscape awards in Europe.
The park, which opened in the spring, is a 700-metre environmental corridor from Belgrade Plaza in the city centre, passing under the ring road to Naul’s Mill Park and connecting to communities to the north.
The project has scooped the Community & Schools Development prize in the BALI National Landscape Awards – the major awards in the sector.
The new Linear Park has seen the Radford Brook brought back to the surface in a natural valley of wildflowers, withs over 1,000 trees and saplings planted that help to screen the park from the impact of the ring road.
The park also includes a children’s play area, a climbing wall and a feature ‘Zen Arch’ structure that crosses the brook.
Regeneration specialists Complex Development Projects (CDP) created the park, following the completion of remediation works to the former industrial site in Abbotts Lane, which is planned to be transformed into a high-quality residential district known as Abbotts Park.
CDP worked with the UK’s leading grounds maintenance and Coventry-headquartered landscape creation specialists Idverde UK, who made the award application. The design of the project has been led by landscape architects Barton Wilmore.
The regeneration has been supported by Coventry City Council and West Midlands Combined Authority which has invested over £2 million in the landscaping project.
The judges commended the scheme, saying: “The Abbotts Lane Linear Park is a great example of how modern urban regeneration can make a huge difference to the surrounding community.
“It is a thoughtful use of derelict ground and the spark of an idea from a local resident has led to a transformation of the space in a relatively short space of time.
“In the short time I was there reviewing the site, I heard multiple stories of what a difference the development has made to the local community and going forward how it will continue to gain momentum as a hub of the community.
“The liaison and consultation with the wider community was evident in the design response and the word 'safe' was used numerous times to describe how people felt about this new link through to the centre of Coventry.”
Ian Harrabin, managing director of CDP, said it was a fantastic achievement to have received international recognition for Linear Park.
He said: “The difference this urban park has made to the area speaks volumes for the design and construction of this project.
“It is already becoming a focal point for the community which was our main aim when we started the project. That was fully recognised by the judges who were clearly impressed by the idea of the park and also its execution.
“As City of Culture moves to its legacy phase focused on Green Futures, we couldn’t have had a better start.”
Danny Mitchell, Regional Managing Director of Idverde UK, said: “Urban regeneration and making the most of our shared spaces is a key part of Idverde’s work and it’s great that the BALI judges have recognised the benefits that the Linear Park will bring to residents, workers and visitors to Coventry.”
