Commissions: Land Restoration

(For Spelthorne Borough Council with Lower Sunbury Residents Association)

 

The Orchard Meadow site was compulsorily purchased by Spelthorne Borough Council in 2001 & we were appointed to design the new village green & to project manage its transformation from an inaccessible derelict site into a public village green for the town centre of Sunbury-On-Thames.

 

The site is designated green belt & was previously owned by private developers with an uncertain future. We analysed soil samples for contamination which achieved the required chemical thresholds for public open space. An old brick wall was taken down & rebuilt using lime mortars by adjacent properties. Treeworks were completed to open up overgrown woodland & to create footpath links to the west walled garden. The existing car park was reconfigured so that greater area was given to the meadow. The existing soils were cultivated & regraded whilst pernicious weeds were eradicated to create the new wildflower meadows, the grassed events space, & to allow tree & shrub planting. The tree planting featured a Lime Avenue sited along the footpath to the walled garden. Other footpath accesses were made to the town centre, to Old Rope walk, & to Sunbury Park.