For Folkestone Gardens we carried out extensive local engagement and public consultation on the play park design with key stakeholders, community representatives and local schools. Meetings were held with local parents, skateboarders and councillors; and also engagement with the local schools informed the design. A number of online consultation events took place in which epd presented their designs and received constructive feedback. We also provided schools with a plan and questionnaire to allow them to input their feedback. The masterplan was updated accordingly where possible and a final design was agreed and taken forward and worked up into a detailed design.

The redesign of the park had to promote positive social interactions between the various user groups of the park. It was essential that the needs and wishes of the whole community were considered

epd produced all the contract documentation and administered the contract onsite through construction and will be ensuring all minor defects are rectified within the 12 month defect period. The project was funded by Ncil money and epd managed all the project finances on behalf of the client ensuring the project was delivered within budget.

This project has recently reached practical completion with an anticipated opening in early February 2024.

The scheme has received excellent community feedback and, we think, due to the large scale community input there has not been any untoward attention and damage to the equipment during the build. So the contract has been implemented expediently and within budget.