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Following a planning agreement, a housing development released an extensive area of land for redevelopment as the Local Doorstep Green and Urban Public Park now called ‘Manor Green Park’.

The growth of housing around Selsey led to a demand for more green urban spaces and community facilities within the town. The purpose of the project was to provide informal recreation for the community within an enhanced, natural environment, whether this be for play, sporting activities, dog walking, quiet recreation, or for meeting points.

The project included the implementation and water feature, junior and teenage play areas, fitness trail, wildflower meadows, native hedge lines and native tree planting and detailed sensory landscape planting. The scheme included allotment vegetable gardens and productive areas with fruit tree planting. The Sensory Garden design was prepared with school children from the local primary school, who prepared design ideas.

Sustainability was key to the project stakeholders initially through materials selection of sustainable and recycled materials, and also the use of native planting stock and native wildflower and grassland seed mixes to enhance the bio-diversity and ecological interest of the existing site. The plant selection for the design of the Sensory Garden needed to be suited to the seafront location, and also be drought tolerant, with a reduced water demand.

The bio-diversity and ecological interest of the existing site and its landscape context was key to the project stakeholders for the design development of the new public park. The existing boundary mixed species native hedge lines and hedgerow trees have been enhanced and supplemented with new native boundary hedge lines. The scheme has included the planting of new tree planting of native Oak and Ash grown within the local community. Native wildflower and grassland wildflower meadows have been created and cut with gravel footpaths and grassland rides. The scheme proposals have enhanced the site’s bio-diversity and created wildlife corridors for Birds, Bats and Reptiles.