A new "pop-up park" is being set up in Swansea city centre in time for the school summer holidays. The temporary green park aims to help boost people's health and wellbeing in the city centre and improve the area's biodiversity, as well as show the potential for future "urban planting" options in Swansea.
The park has been planned and arranged by Swansea Council and is being delivered in partnership with Natural Resources Wales and the Welsh Government's Local Places for Nature Challenge Fund. It's being installed this week in front of the Iceland supermarket in the former St David's Shopping Centre at St David's Place, a very short stroll from the Quadrant Centre and Swansea Arena.
There will be more than 40 wooden planters of different themes, including "wild meadows," "cliffs and dunes" and "natural hedgerows" placed there for people to enjoy. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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The planters will, in-turn, provide year-round support for butterflies, bees and other insects and will look different as the seasons change. The planters will also have integrated seating so people can sit down and relax, whilst green-roofed cycle shelters are set to be added to the park in due course.
Commenting on the new pop-up park, leader of Swansea Council, Rob Stewart, said: "We plan a number of major city centre developments over the coming years – and we want them to reflect our aim for a greener and more biodiverse city. This temporary pop-up is close to the site of future developments such as Swansea Central North, Castle Square and a new services hub at the former BHS building. It'll influence them and other key projects as it'll be used to trial a wide variety of pollinator-friendly plants and nature-based solutions.
"It will celebrate Swansea’s rich natural environment and will help us use nature to make our city more resilient to the impacts of climate change and more able to contribute to delivering nature recovery." You can read more stories about Swansea here.
Senior green infrastructure officer at Natural Resources Wales, Fran Rolfe, added: "With a nature emergency declared in Wales, it’s more important than ever to do everything we can to help protect our biodiversity, encouraging it to flourish, especially in urban areas such as Swansea city centre. I’m really excited with this city centre pop-up park and hope it'll provide opportunities for people to learn more about biodiversity and will open up conversations about how we can bring more nature into our city and town centres.
"Another critically important benefit of providing the pop-up park is the positive impact nature can have on our health and wellbeing. I hope people visiting the city centre enjoy the extra green space. After all, us humans deserve good habitats too."
Climate Change Minister Julie James added: "The pandemic has given us all a greater appreciation of nature and its importance on our health and mental wellbeing. This pop-up park is a fantastic, innovative way for people from all backgrounds and abilities to learn how these green spaces are important for their communities as well as nature.
"It will show how nature can be integrated into town centre design and how people could get involved in further small local level actions, so important as part of the collective effort needed to tackle the nature emergency and support the variety of plants and animals we love to see in Wales."
Council cabinet member, Andrew Stevens, added: "Swansea’s natural environment is already outstanding, making up over 80% of the county’s land area. Its diversity of landscapes and habitats, including farmland, upland moorlands, coastal cliffs, sandy beaches, woodlands, wetlands, river valleys and estuaries, combine to make it one of the UK’s most attractive and ecologically rich counties.
"We want to make it even better as we regenerate the city centre, help improve people’s health and wellbeing, and help tackle climate change and the nature emergency. The temporary pop-up park is designed to inspire future developments to include more nature."
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