Access

Theme principle

The entrances and the roads in the Park are part of the Park, where every user regardless of their abilities has the same rights.

We are carrying out work to:

• make the park more accessible, with friendlier crossing points for pedestrians
• slow vehicles down making it harder to drive through the park
• remove highway features like the roundabout and reduce the amount of tarmac surface
• provide new lighting all the way along the carriage drive and from the cricket pavilion to Copse Close
• install new drainage and resurface roads and paths to prevent local flooding issues
• remove 32 trees and plant 51 new trees along the drive and nearby areas.
• resurface the southern half of the cycle track and improve the drainage around the cricket pitch to the freshwater ponds
• resurface access to the Lodges
• remove infrastructure such as metal knee-rails and open up garden spaces for public use with new benches.

Working arrangements

Works have been phased through 2020 to allow tree works and planting to be undertaken at the right time for bats, nesting birds and the trees themselves, whilst also avoiding the busier summer months.

The contractor, Aggregate Industries, has been responsible for all signs, traffic management and supervision of park access, such as road diversions to alternative entrances, ‘businesses open as usual’ signs and to meet traffic regulation orders and comply with any permits required for streetworks. They also communicate with local residences and liaise with stakeholders as required.

There will be no reduction in parking spaces throughout the park, although car parking layouts will change. There are currently no plans to charge for parking in Poole Park.

Tree removal and planting

Horse Chestnut

The majority of trees were planted as the park was laid out in the 1800s and early 1900s, and our 2017 Tree Survey revealed that some of the original horse chestnuts by the road are in serious decline.

The access works will give us the opportunity to remove 31 Horse Chestnuts along the carriage drive, along with further trees in nearby areas. These trees are being removed over this winter and next, either because they are old and in decline, diseased or in some cases to allow for park improvements.

They will be replaced with at least 52 semi-mature trees of new species such as Oak, Hornbeam and Small Leaf Lime. These ‘semi-mature’ trees have been grown in nurseries and are a significant size (at least 3m high) with a stem that cannot easily be snapped, planted in special conditions that should allow them to thrive. Planting will be done in phases over 2020 and 2021. The second phase (winter 2020/21) will be carried out alongside the development of a 50 year Tree Strategy. 

Project banners, as displayed in the park