Planning permission granted at Victoria Park

Planning permission has been granted for a Heritage Lottery Fund project to redevelop and restore Victoria Park in Stafford.

Led by landscape architects, TEP, the project seeks to realise the full potential of Victoria Park by restoring its historic fabric to create both a community asset of real significance and value, and to make an important contribution to the wider social, economic, and environmental regeneration of Stafford.

Buttress’s role on the project includes overseeing the restoration of the park’s historic structures, namely the Grade II listed Mottram Shelter and County War Memorial, and the design of a new café, aviary, and a horticultre and training centre.

The café will be a lightweight structure that sits alongside a new landscaped amphitheatre to encourage performance and events. It has been designed with a central core to offer 360° views of the park.

The aviary will have a powder coated still mesh façade that reflects the patterns of the new café, with vertical and angled structural elements that imitate the surrounding trees. The structure will be finished in a mid-grey colour, with the central feature posts and ‘branches’ highlighted in a vibrant green.

A single-storey horticulture and training centre will provide training, classroom space and a working greenhouse for use by both park visitors, students, and maintenance staff. The centre will be timber clad to ensure that it sits comfortably within the park environment.

Stafford Borough Council has submitted a HLF Round 2 ‘Parks for People’ application for funding to deliver the scheme and a decision is expected soon.