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**Heeley
Millennium Park
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Design Stage 1996-98
The following
section contains extracts from the original 1996
proposal to create a park and to set up a mechanism
to seek money to fund its construction and long
term management. It has been included to indicate
the range of issues that need to be addressed by
any Trusts seeking to make a new local park for its
community.
Use
the Menu on the right to access to information
which interests you.
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Design
Objectives for the Park
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The
intention was to design a Park which would
create:
- a
strong sense of place
- variety
of usable spaces
- new
wildlife habitats
- focal
and meeting places
- stimulating
play provisions
To
retain and enhance:
- pedestrian
access and circulation
- the
dramatic views
- suitable
sites for events such as the
Festival
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To
provide a safer environment by:
- road
improvements and closures
- designated
cycle way
- good
lighting
- segregating
child play and dog movement
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Sketch
of the original Site Appraisal for the Heeley
Millennium Park - prepared in 1996
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Appraisal of
the physical and natural characteristics of the
site
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An appraisal of
the physical and natural characteristics of the
site was undertaken by the landscape design team to
establish the special features of the site which
should influence the development of a site plan.
Information about what the community wanted was
gathered separately and then the two strands of
information came together to enable the landscape
architect to make the final plan which aimed to
meet both the needs of the local people and the
limitations imposed by the site. The following
describes the main characteristics of the
site:
TOPOGRAPHY
The site slopes down westwards towards the
River Sheaf. Spectacular views. Some parts are as
steep as 1:3. Retaining measures may be necessary
in these parts.
VEGETATION
The existing vegetation is predominantly
amenity grass with groups of mature trees and some
attractive established shrub belts dotted around.
Established trees and shrubs should be retained and
incorporated into the design where
possible.
MICRO
CLIMATE
Most parts of the site are exposed to the
predominant west wind and driving rain. While
strategic planting may help protection against the
elements, it cannot be entirely successful without
obscuring the attractive views.
PEDESTRIAN
CIRCULATION
The main pedestrian routes are along the
existing roads as the site is used for little other
than dog walking. However, pedestrian desire lines
running along the length of the site are visible.
These should be formalised in the
design.
TRAFFIC
Many of the roads that run through the site are
needed for access purposes only. Some of these
could be closed off and others closed to access
only. Well Road is the most busy road that
traverses the site. It may need to remain open with
traffic calming measures. A particular problem of
the area is short-cutting through Anns Road in
front of Anns Grove School. To promote safety for
the school children closure of Anns road in
conjunction with the reopening of View Road has
been suggested.
SOIL
Dense housing covered most of the site before it
was cleared over 10 years ago. The majority of
cellars were left in tact and were filled with
building rubble. Subsidence is a continuing problem
that will need to be addressed in the
implementation of the design. The layer of topsoil
over brick rubble is thin in most parts, making
topsoil importation necessary.
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User
needs
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The
requirements of the local users were established
through undertaking a wide range of community based
"planning for real" studies as well as more
conventional questionnaire based
studies.
Community
consultation was a pre-requisite to obtaining
funding; Thom White who now works for Heeley
Development Trust has had a long-standing
involvement in Heeley. He lives in Heeley and when
doing the Landscape Architecture course at the
University of Sheffield he chose Heeley as his
special design project in the 5th Year. As part of
this he was able to built a 1-500 scale model of
the site for the Park which he took out to the
community - to child, youth and adult groups,
schools and into the street (by standing outside
the Post Office).
The objective
of the model was to inform the local community of
the plan and ask them for their ideas about what
should be put on the site and where and what it
should be like as a place to be in and pass
through. ( This consultation process was based on
Arnstein's idea : 'Moving the community up the five
roles ladder' i.e. moving from the community being
manipulated to being in charge.)
Community
involvement was achieved by targeting specific
groups, e.g. youth groups, particularly the one
based next to the Park, and schools.
Those involved
were encouraged to work with the Park Working
Group. The children (3rd/4th Years) devised a
questionnaire for use in the primary schools and
gathered the information on what they wanted to
have/see in the Park. Thom White collated this
information and drew up the subsequent report to
the Steering Committee which did much to influence
the final design of the Park.
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Project
Implementation
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Project
management
The bid for the Heeley Millennium Park was
prepared by a Steering Committee of local people
and representatives of local organisations and
businesses. A direct result of the work of the
steering group was the establishment of the Heeley
Development Trust.
Initially Heeley City Farm was nominated as the
lead organisation for the Heeley Millennium Park.
However, as the Trust became established it took
over the management and implementation of the
project. Many members of the original Steering
Committee and other representative local people
were nominated as Heeley Development Trust Board
Members/Directors.
The Heeley Development Trust appointed a Project
Manager and other staff as appropriate to manage
the construction phase of the project.
The work
force
The
construction work is being done in three
ways:
- Contractors
have
been employed to do major works - earth moving,
road construction etc.
- The process
of constructing the Heeley Millennium Park has
allowed significant opportunities for training.
European funded
students
training
at Heeley City Farm have used the site as one of
their main work experience
opportunities.
- As well as
being involved in the management of the project
local people have become involved in practical
and physical work as
volunteers.
Heeley City Farm, Alexandra Road Community
Gardens, United Enterprise and the Heeley
Churchyard Project adequately demonstrated the
talent available within the community. There
proved to be considerable expertise in
developing good practice in volunteering. Many
local people, both adults and children, have
worked on the creation of the Park. In all cases
the tasks required are matched to the abilities,
physical strength and fitness and wishes of the
volunteers. Appropriate training, observance of
Heath and Safety and Equal Opportunity
procedures and other good practice are
observed.
Landscape
Design for the Millennium Park
In September
1995 the Leader of Sheffield City Council,
Councillor Mike Bower, agreed to provide design and
management expertise from Sheffield City Council
Design and Building Services. Jill Ray, an
experienced Landscape Architect was allocated to
the project. Sheffield City Council has continued
to be involved in the construction, implementation
and maintenance work and contributed professional
expertise. Heeley Development Trust has to pay
Sheffield City Council for all these services and
has had to raise these additional sums from the
funders (for instance, the production of the
landscape design and contractors drawings, etc.
cost the Trust £36,000).
"On site at
last"
Heeley City
Farm has adopted a Green Housekeeping policy.
Environmental considerations include an ethical and
environmental purchasing policy, energy
conservation, waste minimisation and recycling.
Access for the disabled, road safety and personal
and community safety are priorities within the
project planning, design and implementation . This
policy has been continued as far as possible in the
Park.
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The
Design
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Jill Ray acting
on behalf of the Sheffield City Council produced
the design for the Heeley Millennium Park based on
the ideas developed within the community. The
original intention had been to close off most roads
through the site, but for the moment the business
community and others have asked that all the roads
be kept open. Whilst this divides the Park into
distinct sections to a greater extent than was
originally intended, the traffic on the roads
remains so light that their continued use has not
resulted in any particular problems. The children's
play area has been fenced off, so when children
leave the space they get a "memory jog" that they
are entering another "less safe " environment - so
far it is working well.
This was one of
the early plans produced by Jill Ray for the local
community to consider. It was eventually modified
and this went on the ground:
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This
shows what has so far been implemented -
the vegetation is of course smaller at
present but will grow rapidly.
The
first and second phases (nearest to you in
this picture) included making the Events
Area - the large circle of grass in
foreground. Beyond that is the play area
and further away is the rock-climb known
as "The Boulder".
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The
Slide
Use was made of the slope of the site to
create different levels in the
playground.
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