'Very impressive': We ask visitors what they think of new Shrewsbury park as council adds 6,000 plants

Visitors have given Shrewsbury’s newest park the thumbs up as the town council starts the process of adding 6,000 plants to the new space.

The Riverside Gardens park, off Smithfield Road, opened last week and marks the first completed section of Shropshire Council’s long-term Riverside redevelopment plans.

The overall scheme remains in flux, as the public awaits confirmation of what will be built on the large vacant area next to the park.

But the first section has met with approval from its early visitors, who described the addition as “very impressive” and, unsurprisingly, “better than what was here before”.

Although the park is now open to the public, Shrewsbury Town Council is just getting started on its job of making the area as attractive as some of the town’s other popular spots.

The town council is responsible for the majority of the parks maintenance and the stunning floral displays for which Shrewsbury has earned an envied reputation.

Town clerk Helen Ball has spoken of how the council’s staff are now working to sprinkle some of that magic on the Riverside location by adding around 6,000 plants and turf to the site.

While the plants bed in, locals and visitors have been getting their first look at the new area.

Jane and Bernie Ayres, from Shrewsbury, are one couple who liked what they saw.

Mr Ayres, 70, described the area as “very impressive”, while his wife, 61, added: “I like it, better than what was here before.”

Alessio Dyfnallt from Shrewsbury was checking out the park with his daughter and said: “It’s really good actually, my daughter is enjoying the climbing walls and the stepping stones are great and it will be great once the landscaping is finished, but yeah, very impressed.”

The 47-year-old added that the site would be a good addition to the town, and said: “It has been a wasted space for a long time now hasn’t it, so anything to get people into the town and something for the kids to do and sit and have a coffee and a sandwich.”

Adam, from Kerry in Mid Wales, was visiting Shrewsbury with his family and said the development reflected a sense that Shrewsbury has managed to continue attracting economic investment where other towns have struggled.

He said: “Obviously it is a contrast from where we live, there is obviously money and investment in Shrewsbury. Regardless of this you can kind of tell when I have been into the town over the last few years - I think a good example is places to eat and things.

“It seems to do very well - that’s why we come here from Mid Wales, it has things that we don’t have.”

Meanwhile the town council is also working on a plan for the area beyond the blue boarding at the site, as it awaits its fate under future development plans.

Tanya Miles, chief executive of Shropshire Council, said the ambition is to ensure that the space is an attractive part of the town, with temporary improvements that can be moved as any redevelopment comes forward.

Talking about the plans Mrs Ball said: “This is obviously going to be the space where ultimately there will development going forward in the months and years to come, but we want to make sure this space is used for the public, we don’t want to get to the stage where this space is used for the public, we don’t want to get to the stage where this is boarded off and is not used.

“So we have been working with a local landscape architect on how we can actually develop it as a meanwhile space and get the best out of it.

“So really develop a site that is great for young people, particularly by the fact that the college is just down the way, that it is safe for women and girls so it is going to be lit, it is going to be open and they can come in freely, but also be a great space for events, for markets, and start to have a real kind of vitality about it.

“We are obviously close to the river so this area does flood so we are thinking about how that can be accommodated, but it is also about using everything on site.

“There are hundreds and hundreds of these concrete bollards and it’s how can we use them on site to create something that is going to be quite exciting - so don’t spend a lot of money, but do something of quality.”