Broadland Country Park Feasibility Study

Client: Broadland District Council
For this project, PSC was the lead consultant to carry out a feasibility study and to generate a development plan for the newly established country park to the north west of Norwich. Broadland District Council had purchased 57ha of broadleaf woodland, coniferous woodland, heath and fenland in January 2020. The area was known as the Houghen Plantation and has since been publicly launched as Broadland Country Park. The main aim was to encourage walking, cycling and other outdoor activities in this location. As a result, the Park has been in receipt of Section 106, Community Infrastructure Levy, British Cycling, Higher Level Scheme and Business Rates Pool Funding. The key policy driver for the purchase of Broadland Country Park was to provide alternative greenspace for recreational use, thus reducing the impacts made on a range of internationally designated sites around the county.

The vision for the park was to create a high quality accessible green space of sufficient quality to achieve a Green Flag Award and country park accreditation. Our role involved assessing the optimum mix of facilities and infrastructure provision and to carefully balance the commercial potential with the best possible customer experience, while respecting wider environmental considerations and ensuring long term sustainability of the offer. The project needed to offer a robust approach to climate change adaptation – and to ensure broad accessibility was at the heart of the forward planning agenda.

We completed a detailed site review, extensive consultation, primary survey research and options analysis with firm recommendations for the short and medium term development plans. The recommended plans covered the built facilities, external environment, interpretation, events and activities as well as supporting infrastructure. We also provided a trading profile and financial analysis for the preferred option and we reviewed partnership working opportunities with adjacent landowners and other bodies including Forestry England. Working alongside Hiraeth Architecture, our report included initial concept and building drawing plans.

How can we help?
If have any questions about carrying out a feasibility study or preparing a development plan for a country park please don’t hesitate to call Richard Linington on 07866 742628 or email richard@pslplan.co.uk