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Community-Led Design

Public engagement has been central to shaping the Masterplan. To date, we have heard from the community through almost 3,000 survey responses, over 30+ workshops, meetings and events through schools, youth groups and community events and on-site walks and discussions.

What you said:

People consistently asked for:

  • Spaces for play and sport;
  • Safe and accessible pathways;
  • Places to gather and socialise;
  • Nature and biodiversity protection;
  • Opportunities for creativity and cultural expression.

What we heard:

From the huge community input, four themes emerged:

  • Active Movement;
  • Sport and Recreation;
  • Community Life and Facilities;
  • Nature and Ecology.

ACTIVE MOVEMENT


Walking, running, wheeling, and cycling emerged as the strongest community priorities. People want safe, enjoyable, and accessible routes for everyday mobility and
exercise. These insights inform a layered movement network that follows natural contours, connects the anchor zones, and changes in character across the park’s
varied landscapes. Accessible walking loops, running routes, family friendly cycling paths, woodland trails, sloped paths, and potential skills-based elements, together
create a diverse and inclusive movement system. This network supports healthier lifestyles and embeds activity and social movement into daily life.

SPORT AND RECREATION


The feedback highlighted the need for informal, inclusive, and freely accessible recreation opportunities—particularly for young people and adults without access to formal sports facilities. These priorities shape the placement of facilities within the landscape structure. Informal sport pitches, multi use open fields, outdoor fitness areas, calisthenics zones, teen activity spaces, nature based play, and recreational loops are positioned in the park’s more structured or open plateau areas, where topography supports flexible use.


This distribution promotes active recreation while preserving quieter, ecologically sensitive spaces along the slopes, hedgerows, and river valley. These elements align with ARI policy, promoting wellbeing and everyday social activity.

COMMUNITY LIFE AND FACILITIES


The community expressed a strong desire for a park that fosters social life, creativity, and learning. This theme informs the location of civic-oriented anchors, such as gateway plazas, gathering lawns, community pavilions, outdoor classrooms, and event spaces, primarily situated in the structured parkland at the urban edges.
These spaces benefit from visibility and accessibility, reinforcing the park’s role as a civic anchor. Sheltered seating, resting points, picnic areas, and opportunities
for volunteering and stewardship are dispersed throughout the landscape, supporting intergenerational use and community belonging.

NATURE AND ECOLOGY


Nature emerged as one of the most meaningful and emotionally resonant themes, reflecting a strong community need for safe, restorative, and accessible contact with natural environments. People expressed a desire for places to unwind, feel secure, observe wildlife, and benefit from the wellbeing effects of water, woodland, and open landscapes. Quiet refuge spaces, sensory paths, and nature-based play are integrated to support mental wellbeing and comfort; environmental learning opportunities within ecological corridors, the Urban Farm, and nature trails deepen connections between people and the landscape, fostering stewardship and confidence in outdoor environments.

North West City Park