Douglas City Council is thanking members of the public for their feedback about plans to revamp three of the seafront gardens on Douglas Promenade.
Approaching 300 members of the public attended a consultation event where they were able to view a display of potential designs and talk to the design team (ERZ Studio Ltd) behind the project.
As part of an initiative to regenerate Douglas Promenade, Douglas City Council intends to improve the six Marine Gardens.
A total of £1.4 million has been budgeted for the whole scheme, across the three sites, and is included in the local authority’s Capital Programme.
Garden Concepts
In July, three different concepts were presented for each of the three sites, aimed at beginning a discussion.
Council Leader, Claire Wells, is encouraged with the level of views received during both the initial consultation (314 responses) and the second consultation exercise in September.
At Marine Garden No. 4, opposite Jaks, the Council’s key aim is for a play park that will create an iconic play space and associated landscaping, an adventurous, accessible, and imaginative playground all year-round, with a strong narrative to Manx history.
This is to replace the popular playground that was much used until being irreparably damaged by Storm Barra in December 2021.
Feedback to the design was generally supportive with areas where families could have a picnic, comfortable seating and a range of inclusive play equipment deemed most important to people.
During the first public engagement, the most popular option for Marine Garden No. 5 (opposite Quids Inn) where a wheeled sports garden could be installed, was for a linear play area.
However, that concept did not receive the same level of support from the public or skaters so the team will now progress a design more focused on the garden element with features suitable for the wheeled sports fraternity.
Feedback
The design for Queen’s Promenade Gardens – three concepts of a beach-themed garden, a maritime-themed garden and a dune-themed garden – received broad public support.
Featuring an element of water play for children, it aims to be a subtle mix of all three concepts, although may need some scaling back due to the presence of underground services beneath part of the site.
Claire Wells says that the council is now in a position to work up a detailed proposal with a view to submitting an official planning application next spring.
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