Victoria Park is located in the market and county
town of Stafford. The park is the jewel in the crown of the boroughs parks and
is one of a handful of truely town centre parks in the country, being located
within the town centre.
In 2010 I was responsible for redeveloping the
existing play facilities within the park, which had reached the end of its
life. The facilities comprised of wooden multi-play units, swings, rockers,
concrete paddling pool and old thatched tennis pavilion. The project budget was
£700,000. Given the size of the project EU procurement rules applied.
Tendering was undertaken on a consultation, design
and build basis, where the winning company would consult the public before
creating the design of the site. The specification for the procurement was
carefully written on this basis and as a fixed price, with bidders submitting
example designs which were used for the purpose of assessing bids only.
Public consultation was carried out via, onsite
activities, residents meetings, open days and social media. Consultation did
not not include an example design but focused upon activities and how children
played rather than specifying a number of specific items of equipment. This
also prevented residents from selecting items of equipment which they know from
existing play area, allowing for newer more dynamic equipment to be used.
The results of the consultation were then drawn
together in a final design for consultation before construction began in 2010,
with the site opening in May 2011.
Funding was secured through Section 106 and Council
resources.
Project outcomes;
