start-with-the-park

56 Start with the park
CASE STUDY
Greater Manchester
Various locations
Green the street
Construction period
Ongoing
Background
Red Rose Forest is one of the 12 Community
Forests in the National Community Forest Partnership
and promotes urban forestry. Set up in 1992, the
organisation is currently involved in a wide range of
projects. These include a new regional forest park that
aims to recover several hundred hectares of derelict
land; support local timber industries across the region;
support biodiversity across green spaces; and make
streets greener.
Red Rose Forest’s Green Streets initiative enables
people in urban areas to improve the environment
of their streets.
Planning and design
The Green Streets initiative aims to integrate trees and
other greenery into some of the most challenging urban
environments. These include very high-density, terraced
neighbourhoods, where there is often little space for
green areas and vandalism is rife. These areas are
often deprived and unpopular.
The Green Streets team operates as an enabler
throughout the planning, design and funding stages of
a project. It tailors solutions to the needs of each street.
Each street-greening scheme starts with members of
the community championing the idea to neighbours and
other residents. The Green Streets team will develop the
design and concept for the street by using computerised
Walter Street, Old Trafford:
Creating a HomeZone
The residents living in Walter Street complained
of vandalism, crime and fear of crime. A new
street design was worked up through community
consultation. Thick bushes that reduced visibility
were removed. Children from the local primary
school helped residents, councillors and business
owners to plant silver birch trees and hundreds
of bulbs along the sides of the road, and they
witnessed the installation of impressive standing
stones – an environmental art work which was
approved by the local community and helps to
calm the traffic.
Goole Street: Creating a unique identity
The Goole Street residents did not want
traditional street trees, but opted instead for
baskets and planters, which were designed in
conjunction with local residents and helped
develop a distinctive identity for the street.
The planters also create a small but significant
defensible space in the form of a small area
between the street and the terraced houses.
This is especially important for the Goole Street
properties that open straight on to the street.
Today, baskets and planters afford residents the
opportunity to sit out in the street in the summer.