John Meehan Essex County Council

The Parklands Vision

The Greengrid South Essex Strategy 2003

The Greengrid Vision

1. Cross river ferry

2. Leisure centre

3. New jetties

4. Ocean cruise terminals

5. New marina

6. Reactivated dock

7. Reclaimed marshland

8. Wetland restoration

9. Thames Path

10. Connection

11. Thames Path connection

12. Heritage regeneration

13. Revealed tributaries

14. Sandbanks

15. Fisheries

16. Deepwater channel

17. Urban waterfront

18. Urban beach

19. Rural waterfront

Water Parklands

Reinvigorate the blue landscape as a major environmental,

recreational, transport and economic asset – a key to

sustainable development in the Thames Gateway.

Community Parklands

Improve access for existing and new communities to

significant landscapes.

Parklands historic

environment

Build on the rich history

of the area by regenerating

the historic environment

to provide a clear identity

for each community in the

Thames Gateway.

Urban Parklands

Regenerate and develop urban environments as places of

culture and social interaction.

A connected Parklands landscape

Create a connected Parklands landscape with the ‘green grid’,

the Thames Estuary Path and visual and environmental

improvements to major transport corridors.

Thames Gateway

Parklands Vision

This document sets out an

aspirational vision which

will guide and support

improvements to the

environment.

One vision, a thousand projects

Thames Gateway PARKLANDS

Vision

By focusing on environmental improvement, the Parklands vision will help to: improve perceptions of the area;

improve the quality of life for 1,500,000 existing residents; create long term value by reconnecting communities to

the exceptional landscapes of the Estuary; encourage a greater number of visitors to the area; and help to attract

investment, jobs and people to Thames Gateway.

15 Real Projects

Parklands EU Interreg Funding

The project title is MAXIGREEN, maximising Green Heritage, was applied

for in January 2011.

This will translate into a number of improvements locally, namely;

•Creating Visions for the South Essex Marshlands

•Creating linkages between the C2C train line stations and the Marshes

•Promoting the South Essex Marshlands

•Improving access with new paths, signage, maps, mobile phone tech etc

•Creating education programmes relating to the marshes history and

biodiversity

•Linking the Hadleigh Farm Mountain biking venue to the Marshes and

the Thames Estuary Path

The total bid for the South Essex Marshlands is worth £887,000,

50% of which is European funding.

The future of Parklands

The future of Parklands

Local Nature Partnership

“their overall purpose will be to bring a diverse range of

individuals, businesses and organisations together at a local level

to create a vision and plan of action of how the natural

environment can be taken into account in decision making.”

DEFRA

Thames Estuary and Parkland LNP

We recognise the need and benefits of moving towards a

stronger, more inclusive and reflective economic and

environmental partnership that would operate across the Thames

Gateway.

We Share a Vision Our Vision for the Greater Thames Marshes NIA is a living and vibrant marshland

and estuary landscape where the skills and enthusiasm of residents, visitors, businesses and technical experts are harnessed to work in partnership, delivering more wildlife, more public understanding and enjoyment of the environment and greater resilience by the natural world to the changes brought about by development and climate change.

17

Our NIA

18

A 48,981 ha pilot offering enhancement to SSSIs, an SAC,

SPAs, Ramsar sites and NNRs where nature is in decline,

development and recreation increasing, sea levels rising

and the land sinking ...

The Outcomes of Parklands

•more visitors and local communities

using greenspaces,

•more pride in living in the Thames

Estuary, healthier lifestyles, and

•an improved image leading to

increased economic investment

Parklands Conclusions

•Parklands investment has achieved a step

change in realising Green Infrastructure

•The Parklands/Greengrid Partnership continue to

deliver improvements

•Parklands and Estuary environmental

improvements will continue and NIA may

provide a long term context for long term

sustainable improvements

Thank you and any Questions