Overview
Marlborough Highways worked in close partnership with Haringey Council to transform Down Lane Park into a more accessible, attractive and sustainable space. Forming part of the wider Tottenham Hale Regeneration Scheme, this project has equipped the park with facilities that better serve the needs of its community.
Challenges
Down Lane Park is a core part of the community for tens of thousands of residents. However, due to outdated equipment the space no longer reflected the needs of the community and required significant improvement to continue being a beloved space for locals.
To address these issues, Marlborough was brought on by Haringey Council to lead this scheme and improve the footpaths, biodiversity, lighting and drainage across the park. As part of this effort, operatives also introduced a range of new facilities to the space.
Delivering this project was not without its challenges. Down Lane Park serves as a vital pedestrian connection to the nearby bus station, train station and football stadium. As such, it was important for the team to retain public access throughout the duration of works.
Additionally, as this scheme involved excavating around several thousand cubic metres of soil, it was important to responsibly manage this material in a busy part of Tottenham.
Solution
To overcome these hurdles, Marlborough carried out the Down Lane Park Improvement Scheme over two phases.
The first stage involved widening and resurfacing paths across the north-east side of the park. Operatives also constructed a new footway that connected Park View Road and Ashley Road, further improving pedestrian accessibility and usability.
A wide range of brand-new gym equipment was installed, alongside inclusive and accessible seating. Additionally, hundreds of new trees and plants were also implemented, further improving the biodiversity of the area.
During this phase of the project, three swales were created to reduce the risk of flooding in alignment with Haringey Council’s sustainable urban regeneration strategy. This required excavating around 2,500m³ of soil, which was then tested and approved for reuse at another site in the borough by the Environment Agency via a Waste Exemption Registration.
As soon as this work was completed, phase two began. This involved introducing a new play area and footpath to the space, as well as overhauled lighting, additional shaping and further landscaping.
Fact file
Client: Haringey Council
Date: January 2024 – December 2024
Duration: Phase one 29 weeks; phase two 20 weeks
Value: £2.4 million
Project:
- Landscaping and trimming of terrain
- Construction, widening and resurfacing of footpaths
- Implementation of new drainage and swales
- Installation of new furniture, ducting and lighting
- Introduction of new gym and play equipment
- Planting of new flowers and trees
Team:
- 1 x full-time Supervisor
- 1 x full-time Foreman
- 10 x skilled Operatives
- 1 x Civil Engineering Apprentice
- 1 x footway resurfacing gang
- 1 x street lighting team
Results
The wide variety of work Marlborough completed on this scheme has transformed Down Lane Park into a safe, attractive and well-equipped space. Built with a firm focus on the future, the revitalised community ground continues to receive positive feedback and retain its status as a Green Flag park.
Partnership
Before work began on Down Lane Park, Haringey Council engaged with the public over the course of several months. These findings not only informed the new design of the space, but also guided refinements to the scheme as works continued.
Marlborough’s team also involved the nearby Harris Primary Academy in the project, holding a dead hedge building activity where pupils got to add branches, twigs and other debris to a structure made of non-living plant material. The session was fun, informative and gave students the opportunity to learn about sustainability and the natural environment.
The habitat they created continues to serve as a home for the park’s insects, birds and small mammals.
“One of the things I value most is their very collaborative and transparent team culture. It makes a big difference to have a contractor that wants to work closely with us and is supportive and responsive. With Marlborough, I get a team who are attentive, work collaboratively and honestly with me and don’t lose focus on delivering first class communications and compliance.”
“From the design stage, Marlborough has been fundamental in delivering the Broad Lane Square improvements scheme. During the works, not only did the team manage to keep to the programme, but they went the extra mile to ensure attention to detail and came up with innovative solutions to address issues encountered on site. My thanks on behalf of Haringey goes out to Marlborough for their dedication to deliver.”
“Working alongside our Term Service Contractor Marlborough Highways, we successfully completed renovations to the Crowstone Footbridge. The designs were provided by Marlborough, and the work was unique. The scheme was completed to budget and ahead of its programme duration.”
“I would like to thank you and your team for your efforts, the Marlborough crews were professional, courteous, and hard working all day and ensured the event went without a hitch. You and the team were a credit to the company, demonstrating commitment and support to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.”
“I just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to work with Marlborough Highways over the last six months. The quality of work is superb, and there has been some excellent collaboration between Milestone and Marlborough to complete, what at times, has been quite a challenging scheme. I hope to work with Marlborough on another project in the near future.”
“Marlborough worked with us in constructing a 1.3km cycle track. There were a number of technical difficulties to overcome, and their gifted foreman worked to propose some innovative solutions to the challenges we faced. The result is a facility that the locals are proud of, providing walkers and cyclists with alternative access to the hospital and nearby school. The scheme was a lot of hard work, but well worth it.”
“Marlborough attracts people who take care and have pride in their work. Several gangs of Operatives worked tirelessly for six months to reconstruct drainage networks, lay more than 3km of high quality bespoke granite kerbs and granite channels blocks to ensure positive drainage. The technical compliance, attention to detail and level of quality finish along the entire carriageway was exceptional”.
“We saw huge benefits in appointing Marlborough as our full service contractor and we’re impressed – they’ve delivered consistent high quality service and superior quality control across every project. Marlborough, provide us with a ‘one-stop’ shop solution – we get the same quality of service and better control across all aspects of the project.”
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