Middlegate Gardens

The introduction of safer green social spaces at Middlegate Gardens has completely transformed the area for more than 1,000 residents living on the council-owned housing estate. Tired play equipment and a hardstanding games court, identified by locals as a source of anti-social behaviour, have now been replaced with large areas of greenery, trees and interconnecting paths. Three new play areas have been added, including a SEN wheelchair accessible multi-play area for children with reduced mobility. Throughout the project, the site team also held a number of community engagement events to provide residents with the opportunity to have an active role in the delivery of their new communal gardens.

Key Stats

On time & budget
9/10 client satisfaction
62.5% local labour (<20m)
49.5% local spend (<20m)
100% SME spend
41hrs + £1.3k donated to community
42/45 CCS score
ZERO accidents
26-week duration

At a Glance

Client

Great Yarmouth Borough Council

Budget

£779k

Completion

Oct 2022

Location

Great Yarmouth

Framework

SCAPE National Construction

Sector

Sports/Leisure

Social value

£414k

Sustainability

96% of waste diverted from landfill

Our Approach

With £858,000 in funding secured via the central Government’s Estate Regeneration Fund to make improvements to a number of play areas in the Middlegate Estate, Great Yarmouth Borough Council looked to accelerate its delivery by directly appointing Morgan Sindall Construction through the SCAPE National Construction Framework. As well as ensuring early contractor involvement, the council was also able to benefit from SCAPE’s free feasibility offering, providing it with realistic and accurate forecast and delivery costs.

Consultation with residents revealed the need for ‘safer, greener, social spaces’ as well as ‘improved security to help tackle anti-social behaviour’ throughout five outdoor play and social spaces in King Street, Clarendon Close North, Clarendon Close South and Dorset Close. Looking to overcome these concerns, Morgan Sindall laid more than 2,500 square metres of high-quality turf along with numerous trees, plants and flower beds.

In King Street, the existing hardstanding games court - identified by the residents as a source of noise and anti-social behaviour - was replaced with a private garden for the immediate houses, while new communal entrances, fencing, seating and enhanced lighting helped improve security concerns throughout all the areas.

Three multi-purpose recreational areas featuring playground equipment made from sustainable materials were also installed, including a wheelchair accessible play ship and roundabout for children of all abilities to use.

Finally, new interconnecting paths were added to help promote movement through the communal areas as well as link to other public realm areas and recreational facilities beyond the estate – such as the new Marina Leisure Centre that was recently delivered by Morgan Sindall.

Four community engagement events were held over the 26-week delivery programme

Enhancing Communities

Keen to ensure the project delivered a meaningful social and economic boost to the community, the project team worked hard to try keep the project spend locally. This saw close to 50% spent with companies located within 20 miles as well as 62.5% of labour from the area.

Four community engagement events were held over the 26-week delivery programme with residents invited to engage with the project in a fun and informal setting. As well as educating local children on the importance of health and safety in construction, residents from the community also volunteered their time alongside Morgan Sindall’s site team, its supply chain and the council to improve the local area. This included painting fences, planting bulbs, installing bird boxes, and setting up nature habitats around Middlegate, Clarendon Close, and Dorset Close. Volunteers also got involved with cleaning up the local area and the removal of graffiti.

During the third community event, the project team worked closely with the Council and Norfolk Constabulary's to help reduce anti-social behaviour as part of their awareness week, with more than 75 people from the local area attending.

In total, the project team donated more than 41 hours and £1,300 towards the local community, which helped contribute to the project receiving near perfect Considerate Construction scores for their respect and integration with the neighbouring community (14/15) and also an overall client satisfaction score of 9/10.

Emma Flaxman-Taylor, chair of the Housing and Neighbourhood committee at Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said: “It’s great to have the new wheelchair accessible play ship installed as part of work to improve a number of play areas and create a new shared secure communal garden in the Middlegate Estate. I know all of our residents will really enjoy and appreciate the improvements to their area.”

Mark Robinson, Group Chief Executive at SCAPE, added: "Place as a route to stronger, healthier communities is vital. This consultative regeneration project has enabled a green space that will be of great value to residents in Great Yarmouth and provides an inclusive, outdoor environment to be enjoyed. SCAPE is pleased to have been able to accelerate the delivery of this project through our Construction Framework.”