Keyham Greenspace Improvements
We’re working with Plymouth Together to help make the greenspaces of Keyham feel safer, more welcoming and accessible, and better for wildlife.
Funded through the Safer Keyham Home Office Grant and Green Minds, Keyham’s greenspaces are improving for people and wildlife. Since September 2021, we’ve been working with the community to co-design improvements to Alexandra Park, North Down Crescent Park, Knowle Avenue, Marley Park, and Linear Park.
How were the greenspace designs created?
Following feedback from an Environmental Visual Audit, Community Voices events, ward councillors and local community groups, we created draft designs with landscaping firm, YGS, for the five parks as part of the Keyham Greenspace Improvements. During consultation in winter 2021-22, we received incredibly positive feedback from the community and started to deliver some improvements like tree planting and bulb planting with the community. These included social action events with the mini-police from local schools and local residents and scout groups planting trees.
In June 2022, we held co-design workshops with the community to look in detail at the designs of Alexandra Park and North Down Crescent Park, which has informed the final designs. In total, we've worked with over 100 Keyham residents and community groups during the consultation and co-design of the greenspace improvements.
The final designs:
The majority of improvements will focus around Alexandra Park, North Down Crescent Park and Knowle Avenue. The final designs for these greenspaces can be viewed below, along with explainer videos talking about changes you can expect to see on the sites. From 2023, there'll be improvements to Marley Park and Linear Park, and the designs for these greenspaces (based on feedback from the consultation) can be found below.
The improvements to all the Keyham sites will be phased over the next couple of years, so not all changes will happen at the same time. These designs are an overview of the plans, and don’t necessarily include everything we plan to do – for example, we know a lot of people were keen to create wildlife homes in the parks, so we’re planning to do this too even though it’s not specified in the designs! These designs are also focused on the natural improvements to the greenspaces, and don’t include improvements focused on safety (like lighting) which were organised through Plymouth Together.
What next?
Over the next few months, you can expect to see more tree planting, wildflower sowing / enhancing wildlife meadows and bench installation, with opportunities to get involved with these activities at Alexandra Park and North Down Crescent Park. The wildflower sowing and tree planting will be focused on planting native species (plants naturally found in the UK) – this means the majority of planting will be better for wildlife with fewer ornamental species. Following feedback from the consultation, trees have also been chosen so they do not impact views and give a variety of colour and blossom through the seasons. Keep an eye on our news page for the latest updates.
Not all changes will happen at once – improvements will continue over the next couple of years, and it will also take time for natural improvements such as wildlife meadows to fully establish. To find out more about how these improvements fit into our city-wide plan to manage some of our grassy spaces for wildlife, follow this link to the Plymouth City Council 'How We Manage Our Grass' page. We will continue to keep this page updated with the latest Keyham updates.
Get Involved!
Keep an eye on this page and the Safer Keyham webpage for more updates on the Keyham Greenspace Improvements, and visit our events page for opportunities to get involved.
