Transforming an Overgrown Site into a Park in Lowestoft
An overgrown eyesore on the corner of Cleveland Road and London Road South that regularly attracted fly-tipping was developed into a much-loved pocket park for Lowestoft by a community group in collaboration with local partners.
The community group Kirkley Pocket Parks Group (KPPG) have gone from strength to strength, partnering with other groups to take on more projects.
The ambition
The Project Manager of the London Road, Lowestoft High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) regularly received comments about the condition of this pocket of land from the community, asking what could be done about it. The site was overgrown, unloved, and widely considered to be an eyesore.
The community wanted to take over the responsibility for maintaining it as a community pocket park, if only they knew who the owner was. So, the Project Manager tracked down the owner and the newly formed Kirkley Pocket Parks Group (KPPG) signed a permissive access lease with them.
Once the lease had been signed, the HSHAZ team started developing a project with Kirkley Pocket Parks Group for the site.
There was an electricity substation to the rear, so the garden needed to be bounded by hoardings. The group wanted to decorate the hoardings with a community mural and plant up the land to the front.
Who made it happen?
- Kirkley Pocket Parks Group, responsible for project management, fundraising, providing volunteers
- East Suffolk Council, main funder and project support
- Kirkley People’s Forum, funder and project support for artist Catalina Carvajal
This community park was one of the regeneration projects completed as part of the London Road, Lowestoft High Street Heritage Action Zone, a partnership scheme led by East Suffolk Council and supported by Historic England.
The case study details on this page were supplied by East Suffolk Council.
Funding sources
The HSHAZ was funded by East Suffolk Council and Historic England. This community park was part of a wider public realm and connectivity project.
Total costs £14,848:
- East Suffolk Council HSHAZ contribution: £4,050 artist fees, £4,995 hoardings
- Kirkley People's Forum: £3,368
- Suffolk County Council (Local Councillor Grant): £2,435
The results
East Suffolk Council and Kirkley Pocket Park Group worked together on an artist brief for the mural, with the theme of ‘What Kirkley Means to Me’. Artist Catalina Carvajal was awarded the commission.
At 5 workshops in schools and community spaces, Catalina gathered ideas, stories, memories and drawings to explore the brief. People shared memories of experiences of events in the town, images of buildings, and stories about days out, but overwhelmingly, the response was that ‘Kirkley is My Home’, the title of the mural.
Over the course of 4 weeks, volunteers contributed 120 hours of their time to paint the mural with Catalina. Once complete, KPPG members then stripped and repainted the boundary railings and planted up the site for the garden. The pocket park was opened in May 2023 by the Leader of East Suffolk Council at a celebration involving all of the volunteers. The garden won first place in the ‘Best Community Project’ category in the 2023 Lowestoft in Bloom competition and has been shortlisted for the 'Community' category in the East Suffolk Quality of Place Awards 2024.
Lessons learnt
Listening to the community is vital
The community had a passion and determination to create a project with the HSHAZ and this project is widely considered to be the most memorable and important thing which the HSHAZ has delivered in Kirkley.
Community projects will only work where there is the will and capacity of volunteers to deliver them. Build a positive relationship and always be available to support and guide.
Future plans
Members of the community have committed to inspect and maintain the garden, with KPPG available for support and funding for replacing seasonal bedding plants throughout the year. In the first 10 months since opening, volunteers gave 183 hours of their time to maintain it.
The visibility and profile of the Cleveland Road Pocket Park was a great starter project for KPPG and before they had even finished the Cleveland Road project, they were already planning their next.
The group now maintain 16 planters along London Road South, and 6 brick planters in residential areas. They have also developed their own partnerships, having recently completed the clearance of scrub along the former railway line with the probation service, with between 2 to 8 people each week working on site completing community payback. KPPG also work with local shops and the Pakefield Scout Association to maintain local planters. And they have plans to deliver a much larger project at Bixley Green.
There are 10 formal members of KPPG, and a further 24 who volunteer to maintain particular planters or gardens.
Working with Rebecca and the HSHAZ has been fantastic for Kirkley and it has really helped to improve a lot of areas and shops within it… I personally will be very sorry to see [it] finish, it has been an enormous help to the Kirkley Pocket Park Group, enabling us to complete the projects, which have also helped to improve the area and get the community involved in realising what can be done if we all work together.
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