The new exciting design for Armada Way has been confirmed today following one of the largest listening exercises ever carried out by the Council and a cross-party scrutiny review.
Today (Monday 19 February) the Council’s Cabinet confirmed the new design for Armada Way, giving the green light for further work on the cost of construction.
The design includes 10 changes that were made as a result of the public consultation and more changes that were suggested by a cross-party scrutiny committee who reviewed the scheme last month.
Councillor Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “In May I promised to take control of the Armada Way regeneration. I pledged to scrap the previous design for Armada Way, clean up the felled trees and work with residents, businesses and stakeholders on what they would like to see from a new scheme. We have delivered on these promises.
“Today is another milestone on our journey to create a better city centre, one that rivals others across the country, where people want to live, work, visit, shop and do business in.
“We have listened and the design agreed today includes more trees than ever, different tree species, changes to footpaths and cycling routes, extra cycle parking and more accessible green space.
“The design also includes the innovative water drainage system, powered by new solar canopies and the exciting new play village.”
The confirmed design means that further work can be carried out on establishing the final cost of delivering the scheme. Once a final construction cost is known, a further report will be considered by the Cabinet. Exploratory trial pits are currently being dug on Armada Way to get a more accurate picture of what is beneath the surface. When these are finished it will help provide clarity on the scope of the works needed.
Councillor Evans added: “After the consultation and after we updated the design, we were able to start looking in detail at the scheme costs. The figure that has been talked about so far is the outer limits of what we may have to pay. We are now doing more investigative work to eliminate unknown risk and we are having detailed cost review sessions with our contractors.
“We are looking at every aspect of the scheme, how long it will take, and how much it will cost to borrow the money, before a final budget will be agreed. None of these discussions could take place until we had a confirmed design.
“Over the next few weeks we will finish our exploratory work and work with the contractors to get accurate costings. Cabinet will then consider these at a later date.
“We have to be realistic that creating a city centre that we all can be proud of cannot be done on the cheap. We are trying to create something really special that will be a focal point for our city but at the same time, we are incredibly conscious that there will be some public money going into this project. We will keep get the costs down.”
Amends to the design following the public consultation:
- Retention of two extra existing trees – T007 Cockspur Thorn and T118 – Hybrid Whitebeam can now be accommodated following changes to the design in their respective locations. This means only four trees will be translocated from Armada Way to The Park. This responds to the desire of some environmental groups and a large number of individuals who requested more of the existing trees are retained in their current location to retain canopy cover or fears relating to risk of survival, and or cost of translocating trees.
- Some tree species selection has been modified. This includes changing the proposed single ‘Tree of Heaven’ to a London Plane tree.
- The final design includes an increased amount of accessible green space which is beyond that of the design of the scheme which was consulted on.
- Removal of two east-west pedestrian footpaths to reduce conflict of two separate paths crossing the cycle way at the point of chicane. This will make the space safer for both pedestrians and cyclists.
- Changing of the colour of the granite denoting the cycle way to a dark pink hue to provide a strong visual differentiation to the other pedestrian areas.
- The new scheme will include a considerable amount of extra cycle parking in the form of stands and cycle hoops onto lamp columns.
- Further changes will be made to the pedestrian and cycle wayfinding to enable the cycle way and its use to be very clearly demarcated. This is in addition to the already proposed wayfinding monoliths and in-ground way markers but will include other pedestrian level markers and directional infrastructure. This will make the space safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
- The final scheme includes for the addition of a minimum of one drinking water station on Armada Way which will help reduce the use of single plastics and align with Plymouth’s Plan for Plastics. In addition, fewer plastic bottles could also reduce city centre littering.
- An increased amount of seating has been added to the play village area to ensure that there is enough seating opportunity for parents and carers whose children want to use the facilities. A variety of seating with high backs and arm rests is being added in response to requests from older people
- Defibrillator(s) will be installed on Armada Way. There are currently a number of defibrillators across the wider city centre area, but none on Armada Way directly.
Cabinet feedback on the Scrutiny recommendations:
- The City Centre Public Realm Board will include cross-party membership
- There will be recycling facilities on Armada Way
- Rather than installing fixed outdoor gym equipment, which potentially will be an additional maintenance liability, the Armada Way design includes a number of flexible and adaptable spaces which can be used for informal outdoor recreation and exercise
- To improve community engagement, the Council will work with local schools and others as part of its 2024/27 Net Zero Action Plan to raise awareness of climate change and biodiversity, particularly in preparing the planned bug and bee hotels.
- The Cabinet Member for Finance will receive quarterly reports on spend against the eventual approved budget to enable oversight of the scheme and to ensure the commitment to value for money is achieved.
- An overall economic impact assessment of the project will be undertaken and presented to the Growth and Infrastructure Overview and Scrutiny Committee upon completion of the project
- The replacement ratio for failed translocated trees has been increased to 1:5 reflecting the wider commitment to tree planting in the city centre.