Tower Gardens: Immediate Plans and Longer-Term Discussions

Tower Gardens trees: Lime, Plane and Japanese Elm being most numerous.

The publication of the Open Brief for Tower Gardens has accompanied scoping work in order to understand what might be possible within the budget and timeframe of the Section 106 money from a development nearby in the city.

The scoping work has made clear that this initial budget is limited and will need to focus on overall design and a number of smaller improvements, rather than any of the more significant and expensive ideas such as paying for changes to the riverbank or entrance to the gardens.

In the short term, plans will focus on:

  • More seating– taking into account how the sun moves throughout the day, and how people use the various routes through the Gardens
  • Planting that minimises the impact of the roads – visually and in terms of noise – while maintaining key views.

In the medium term – alongside the next phase of public conversations about the new public spaces in the Castle and Eye of York area – we will focus on:

  • Developing further design ideas for the riverbank and the entrance to Tower Gardens – responding to the Open Brief
  • Continuing the public discussion about the trees and increasing understanding about their history, the different species represented in the gardens and their life span.
  • Understanding better the role of the gardens and its walls in flood management, and how recovery from flooding might be improved.

Over the next 12 months, alongside the development of the design for Castle Car Park and the Eye of York, we will aim to do this through:

  • Events discussing the issues of trees and flooding with key agencies, community groups, those with specific expertise and anyone who is interested.
  • Using temporary surfacing to explore the impact of different activities/uses
  • Trying different locations and arrangements of seating to understand what works
  • Holding pop-up events to see what works well there, and working with businesses and groups that have an interest in using Gardens

Sign up for updates and join the conversation.

Leave a comment