Year 8 Geography students from Ely College got the chance to influence the design of the new North Ely Park this month when they presented their ideas to local councillors.

 

Seven groups of students delivered presentations to Councillor Tony Cornell - Chairman of East Cambridgeshire District Council, Councillor Lis Every - Mayor of Ely, Councillor Mike Rouse - ward councillor for Ely North and Sheils Flynn - the landscape consultants who have been appointed to develop a plan for the Park.

 

The ideas and concepts they came up with included:

 

• play areas and adventure parks for all ages and abilities

• an activity hut including bike hire and café

• a community orchard and an allotment

• rowing, boating and fishing areas

• a music area with bandstand

• a camping site and stables

• wi-fi in the public areas. 

 

All groups expressed a desire for natural, imaginative play and greater access to the outdoors.

 

Cllr Mike Rouse at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “We were amazed by quality of the presentations we received. The students were incredibly confident and had obviously given a great deal of thought to their proposals. We were particularly impressed how the students had considered issues such as sustainability, deliverability and how the park could potentially generate income. I don’t think any of us would be surprised to see many of the ideas we saw and heard be used in the final designs.”

 

Emily Hill, Geography subject consultant at Ely College, said: “It was wonderful to see our students rising to the challenge of coming up with ideas for how the new North Ely Park should look. Where others may have seen problems or issues the groups just saw opportunities and potential. This led to designs which were thoughtful, imaginative and inclusive. All the students enjoyed their experience and they can’t wait to see if their ideas make it into the plans which Sheils Flynn are to produce.”

 

These sessions were part of the wider public consultation on the new Park which ran last month. This enabled people to have an input into the development of the design and layout of the new park. The new North Ely Park is a key part of the wider North Ely development of 3,000 homes and the plans can be seen here: www.eastcambs.gov.uk/masterplans/north-ely-development. 

 

Sheils Flynn will now consider all the feedback received and incorporate it into a report which is due early 2015.