A fresh new stretch of Armada Way is welcoming the public once again, as another phase of Plymouth’s ambitious regeneration project reaches completion.
A short ribbon cutting ceremony took place today with performances by children from LS Drama Workshops who sang from their upcoming Wind in the Willows musical.
Duo Sophie Morrell and Matthew George provided a musical backdrop while people gathered and there were stalls run by Food Plymouth, Societree and Plymouth Scrap Store to add some fun to the mix.
The cluttered 80s landscape has been transformed to open up views to Smeaton’s Tower and the Naval Memorial on the Hoe.
This section has seen 94 new trees planted so far they include:
- 28 Himalayan Birch
- 10 Ironwoods
- three Silver Limes
- six Cockspur Hawthorns
- 10 Double Crimson Hawthorns
- a London Plane
- four Common Alder
- 10 Magnolia Kobus
- four Field Maples
- eight Elm New Horizon
- four Love Trees/Judas Trees
- five Gingkos and a Red Maple.
All species have been selected for their ability to thrive in urban environments.
Thousands of new flowering plants are bedding in as well as hundreds of metres of new hedging, 1,000 square metres of wildflower and hundreds of square metres of new lawn.
Deputy Leader of the council, Councillor Jemima Laing said:
“It looks just stunning. There will be so much to see when people walk down it and with such a huge area of the city centre now open to the public again, we think this is worth celebrating.
“The landscape is dramatically different. The whole area has been reshaped and replanted with lots of specially selected trees and plants and the new terracing will give people lots of places to sit and enjoy.
We want people to meet up here, have a picnic here, linger longer in the city centre and to love where they live.”
Sustainable features form part of the scheme. While the rill – the wide channel that runs down the middle – won’t see water until the project is complete, it plays a crucial role as it links to underground tanks and pipes which hold tonnes of rainwater and surface run-off.
There are a series of pumps that will power the water to where it needs to be to feed the plants and trees.
Rain gardens and bioswales – a system of deep gardens, filled with plants and trees – run along on both sides of the scheme and road, paving and cycle path surfaces have a slight gradient so that water runs into these rain gardens.
Irrigation is built into the design and will help reduce maintenance and watering costs in the future and reed beds, including two large (currently empty) beds in zone 1, will be planted and act as a natural filtration system – again helping to reduce costs and pollution.
Councillor Tom Briars Delve, Cabinet Member for the Environment and Climate Change said:
“This is the first time in this country that an ornamental water feature of this type has been combined with a sustainable urban drainage system.
“What’s been going on beneath the surface has been hugely important, particularly as we are looking at delivering thousands of new homes in the city centre.
The sustainable drainage system helps create more capacity in the combined sewer and will reduce the amount of untreated surface water going into Plymouth Sound substantially as a result.”
Another 156 metres of the cycle path linking the station to the Hoe has opened up and a Beryl bikes hub has been installed on the corner of the scheme on Mayflower Street.
