The team have been working with the National Trust and partners to shape the development of a spatial plan for Bathampton Meadows.

The meadows form a 40-hectare green corridor which sits in the valley of the World Heritage Site of Bath alongside the River Avon. Part of the meadows were previously earmarked for development and following a community campaign the ownership of the meadows was transferred to the National Trust.   

Our brief was to work with the local community to develop a transformative plan that would firstly help to restore wetland meadow habitats to create a haven for wildlife and provide opportunities to enjoy and experience nature. By working with nature in this way, there were also potential benefits in terms of helping to alleviate flooding pressure further downstream.

The project also had the aim of creating an active travel movement corridor by providing walking and wheeling connections to and from Bath city-centre.  

In support of this, the team devised a mixed-method research approach which included online engagement, pop-up events and walking/wheeling focus groups with a wide spectrum of potential users of the meadows. This included wheelchair users and those with visual impairment.

As qualified designers and landscape architects we have been able to analyse and translate the outcomes from these sessions to influence and shape the emerging spatial plan options.