Diana Way Park, Caister-on-Sea

Diana Way Park, Caister

Project location & overview

Great Yarmouth Borough Council appointed Greyfriars Project Management to lead the delivery of a refurbishment of an existing park in Caister.

The project aims to improve the facilities and accessibility of the park, along with increasing the biodiversity and amenity it provides.

Diana Way Park

Diana Way Park is an existing park to the north of Caister. It consists of large areas of open green space, and play and sports facilities for younger and older children.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council was awarded £85,000 grant funding under the Levelling Up Parks funding initiative, and this park was identified as the best place to spend the money to deliver the highest levels of improvement with the biggest impact.

Additionally, an adjacent new proposed housing development has provided section 106 funding which increased the budget by £75,000.

Key elements of improvement

There were a number of key elements of improvement which were identified as essential to improve the park.

These elements form part of the Green Flag Status which the council will be applying for and can be summarised as follows:

  • There was very poor accessibility across the park with a limited pathway infrastructure which was constrained to the eastern edge of the park. Most facilities and areas could only be reached over grass. The brief required a new pathway infrastructure to be created to improve accessibility to all areas and facilities within the park. The new pathways links to all existing housing areas and pedestrian access points. The pathway will also link to the new housing development once completed.
  • Existing play equipment was aged and in poor condition, with some pieces unsuitable for use. Also, there was no accessible play equipment. The brief required that the existing equipment should be refurbished and unsuitable equipment removed. New accessible play equipment – including a wheelchair accessible roundabout and accessible swings – should be installed.
  • There was very limited seating within the park, so new seats and wheelchair accessible picnic tables were installed.
  • Existing well-used youth sports facilities within a MUGA (multi-use games area) have been refurbished and relined and a young persons’ seating shelter has been refurbished.
  • A new wildflower meadow has been seeded to increase biodiversity within previous open grassland.
  • There has been extensive new tree planting to create a new woodland copse adjacent to existing mature tree areas.
  • New bins have been installed around the new pathway network – and secure cycle stands have been provided next the pathway adjacent to the play area and MUGA.
  • New interpretation signage has been provided at all entrance points to provide information of local interest and history of the park.
  • New safety signage has been provided in the existing play area.
  • The new pathway layout has been set out to allow a future football pitch to Junior League standard – complete with appropriate safe run-off areas – to be set out if ever needed, and if new funding is available.
Diana Way Park, Caister
Proposed Masterplan of Diana Way Park, Caister-on-Sea

Providing project management and masterplanning services for Great Yarmouth Borough Council

As the project was subject to a strict grant funding deadline, this was a challenging project.

Greyfriars Project Management were appointed by Great Yarmouth Borough Council to provide project management and masterplanning services to help deliver it.

To ensure the works were completed on time, on budget and on programme, we provided a number of services, including:

Managing and engaging with stakeholders

Throughout the project, we have been closely involved with the project’s stakeholders, including project sponsor, council officers, local councillors, local residents and press.

Programme and budget

The project commenced in August 2022, with a Levelling Up Parks Fund grant spend deadline of 31 March 2023. Within this time, all drawings had to be completed and approved, community consultation carried out, suppliers and contractors procured and installation work completed and invoiced.

The section 106 funded works had a later deadline, which allowed for the seasonal planting of trees during the winter of 2023 and the installation of the new pathway through to February 2024.

The project was completed within the required deadlines and within the budget.

Collaborating with Great Yarmouth Borough Council on a public benefit project

As a local business, it was especially rewarding to be working with Great Yarmouth Borough Council to deliver a very challenging project which will be so beneficial for the town of Caister.

This project has greatly improved the park to create an accessible and safe play and amenity space for locals and visitors to Caister.

Additionally, the significant gain in high biodiversity spaces will greatly improve the environment and help add to Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s other green initiatives.

Need help with project management?

Here at Greyfriars Project Management, we are team of highly-skilled project managers.

As well as the public sector, we work with academies, charities and the private sector on development and infrastructure projects which aim to provide tangible benefits to the public.

Whether you need full project management or ad-hoc support, we are on hand to help.

Get in touch today to find out more.

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