1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Medway
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Hillyfields Community Park
Short description of the intervention
Hillyfields Community Park is situated in the Ward of Gillingham North in Medway (ref. 1). It is an open space with some remnant orchard. This space was in an area with high social deprivation and unemployment and was improved between 2005 and 2009 to include natural play elements, better accessibility, host community projects and recreational facilities, and be a safer space (Ref 1, 3).
Address

Parr Avenue
Gillingham
ME7 1PP
United Kingdom

Location
The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).
Area boundary
POINT (0.557108 51.391178)
POINT (0.556968 51.389204)
POINT (0.555273 51.389853)
POINT (0.555594 51.389565)
NBS area image
Source of NBS area image
Google Earth
Total area
42781.00m²
NBS area
42781.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Other
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
Hillyfield park in Gillingham is an open space with some remnant orchard (ref. 1)
Website of the intervention
https://www.medway.gov.uk/directory_record/703/hillyfields_community_park
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2005
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2006
End date of the intervention
2009
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
The regeneration plan aimed to:
- Provide a welcoming place for the local community for recreation - Maintain the Park in a healthy and safe condition - Ensure good maintenance of grounds and facilities - Manage the Park in a sustainable manner - Conserve Park features such as the Orchard and Views - Consult and involve the community on decisions at Hillyfields Community Park - Provide information to the wider community about Hillyfields to encourage its use - Regularly review the implementation of the Management Plan of Hillyfields
(ref. 1)
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
Number of community events in the area (Ref. 1).
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity restoration
Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Green space creation and/or management
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Social cohesion
Social interaction
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-focused
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Protect and enhance urban habitats
Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-focused
What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?
Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
Implementation activities
1. Design new entrances to stop motored vehicles 2. Improve (wheelchair) access with new paths 3. Connect the old orchard and the rest of the park by opening up the orchard for community events, 4. Provide seating and tables, 5. Create a natural play area, 6. Install CCTV to overlook the play area (Ref 3)
Type of NBS project
Maintenance and management of urban nature
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Green playgrounds and school grounds
Parks and urban forests
Large urban parks or forests
Community gardens and allotments
Horticulture
Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens
Unknown
Vegetation Type
Grass
Shrubs
Trees
Flower beds
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS
bins, hard surfaced paths, bins, play area, informal football pitch, orchard, bat and bird boxes, dog walkers, walking paths, church paths (Ref. 1)
Amenities offered by the NBS
Benches and drinking water stations
Playgrounds
Sports areas and equipment
Swimming areas
Educational or biodiversity trails
Viewing and outlook points
Other
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Maintenance of genetic diversity
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Mental and physical health and wellbeing
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Marginalized groups
Marginalized groups
Elderly people
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Hillyfield Community Park is owned by Medway Council (local government), but the intervention was enabled by the Friends of Hillyfield community group (Ref 1, 2).
Key actors - initiating organization
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
The national Sustainable Communities: Building for the future includes a national commitment to improve the quality of public spaces and local environments and materialises in the "Living Places - Cleaner, Safer, Greener" programme (Ref 4). One part of this is the Liveability fund that this projects is supported by.
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
Voluntary improvement of green space (ref. 1)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Hillyfield Community Park improvements were enabled by a partnership between Medway Council, Friends of Hillyfields, Groundwork, local residents and local schools (Ref 1).
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The project was funded by the national Liveability funding, the Biffaward (landfill tax credit grant) and Neighbours4U grants. From the city an additional funding from Section 106 for development on Gillingham Waterfront supplemented these funds. (Ref 1).
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
Yes
Co-governance arrangement
A fund / grant
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Already in place
Financing
Total cost
€500,000 - €2,000,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
approx. 780 000 EUR
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
In British Pounds: 265,000 by ODPM, 50,000 by BIffa Award, 395,000 from Section 106. The project was funded by the national Liveability funding, the Biffaward (landfill tax credit grant) and Neighbours4U grants. From the city an additional funding from Section 106 for development on Gillingham Waterfront supplemented these funds (Ref 2, 4).
Source(s) of funding
Public national budget
Public local authority budget
Private Foundation/Trust
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Please specify other Business model
Park regeneration
Business models
Local stewardship model
Urban offsetting model (biodiversity or water)
Other
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Technological
Infrastructural innovation
Social
Cultural innovation
Please specify technological innovation
Install CCTV to overlook the play area (Ref 3) Improvement of infrastructure connected to green infrastructure (Ref 2).
Please specify social innovation
The park is meant to be a space where people gather and create a sense of community (Ref 3).
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved waste management
Improved soil quality
Green space and habitat
Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
Increased conversion of degraded land or soil
Increased number of species present
Restoration of derelict areas
Description of environmental benefits
- Suitable habitat for reptile species, in particular for slow worm and common lizard. Anecdotal evidence from local residents supports this as slow worms and common lizards have been seen on the site. (ref. 1)
- There is a large area of naturally established brambles that provide good habitat for nesting birds (Ref. 1)
- The Grounds Maintenance Contract for Medway Council removed arisings from the site for recycling/composting with the composted material being returned to beds for mulching and soil enrichment (ref. 1)
- Green waste compost is used for planting projects (Ref. 1)
- Entrances are improved with some native shrub planting, a tree and bulb planting plan is created to incorporate a more diverse range of trees and flowers (ref. 1)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Improved social cohesion
Improved access to urban green space
Increased opportunities for social interaction
Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
Health and wellbeing
Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
Education
Increased support for education and scientific research
Description of social and cultural benefits
- There are two open spaces within 1 km of Hillyfields Community Park. Grange Road Play Area and open space to the North East. Queen Elizabeth Playing Field, a former landfill site, sits to the South East of the Park. The Strand, a regional play area and swimming pool is within 1 km of Hillyfields. Although these open spaces are close, Hillyfields is the only open space within Gillingham North Ward that brings the community together and has a ‘Friends’ group working to improve the park (ref. 1)
- Groundwork have worked with the Kent and Medway community, Friends of Hillyfields and Medway Council since 2002 to improve Hillyfields Community Park (ref. 1)
- Hillyfields Community Park continues to engage local schools in the renovation of the Orchard through Groundwork (ref. 1)
- It has a 1000 metre pathway running around the perimeter and users of the park are encouraged to get active by cycling, running or walking around it (Ref. 5)
- The playing fields offer a great place to fly kites, play ball games and enjoy your picnic (Ref. 6)
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Number of social or environmental events held (Ref 1)
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Positive distribution of NBS benefits
Improved access to green and/or blue spaces
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
This project information was updated on 13 August 2020. No information was found on the current impacts of COVID-19 on the NBS area.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
Conduct a baseline survey before and after NBS implementation
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Measurements of biophysical aspects of the NBS (e.g. temperature, water flow)
Where can this data be accessed? Please include a link to a report or web-page.
http://www.paulodiasap.com/docs/jbp/plano%20de%20gest%C3%A3o%20de%20Hillyfields…
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Link to monitoring/evaluation reports
http://www.paulodiasap.com/docs/jbp/plano%20de%20gest%C3%A3o%20de%20Hillyfields…
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown.
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Yes
Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Other
Please specify other modes of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
"community consultation" (Ref 1)
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref 1: Medway Council. (2017). Hillyfields community park management and mainte…
Ref 2: Medway Council. (2009). Hillyfields community park 5 year management and…
Ref 3: Friends of Hillyfields. (n.d.). About the park.
Ref 4: The Livability Fund.
Ref 5: Kent Orchards. (b.d.). Hillyfields.
Ref 6: Medway Council. (n.d.). Hillyfields Community Park
List of references
1: Medway Council. (2009). Hillyfields community park 5 year management and maintenance plan 2009-2014. Available at: http://www.paulodiasap.com/docs/jbp/plano%20de%20gest%C3%A3o%20de%20Hillyfields%20Community%20Park.pdf (Accessed 13 August 2020)
2: Friends of Hillyfields. (n.d.). Park Info. Available at: http://www.hillyfields.info/park-info/ (Accessed 13 August 2020)
3: Kent Orchards. (n.d.). Hillyfields. Available at: http://kentorchards.org.uk/orchard/gillingham/ (Accessed 13 August 2020)
4: Medway Council. (n.d.). Hillyfields Community Park. Available at: https://www.medway.gov.uk/directory_record/703/hillyfields_community_park (Accessed 13 August 2020)
5: Explore Kent. (n.d.) Hillyfields Community Park. Available at: https://explorekent.org/activities/hillyfields-community-park/ (Accessed 13 August 2020)
6: Just add a picnic. (n.d.) Hilly Fields Community Park. Available at: https://justaddapicnic.com/outdoors/kent/park/2018/02/21/hilly-fields.html (Accessed 13 August 2020)
Comments and notes
Public Images
playpark
Play park in the Hillyfields Community Park
http://www.paulodiasap.com/docs/jbp/plano%20de%20gestão%20de%20Hillyfields%20Community%20Park.pdf