Beth Chatto Gardens has designed 5,500 sq m of planting for Better Queensway. First beds: Southchurch Road, Sutton Road and Lancaster Gardens, by mid-November.

Beth Chatto Gardens, the Essex garden and nursery known for wildlife-friendly planting, has designed the planting for Southend’s Better Queensway scheme. The first beds go in next month on three streets.

Work starts in November on Southchurch Road, Sutton Road and Lancaster Gardens. The council expects that first phase to be finished by mid-November (Southend-on-Sea City Council, 21 October).

In all, around 5,500 square metres of planting is planned across Better Queensway as the rebuild goes on. That is a little over three quarters of a full-size football pitch, our comparison.

What is being planted

The council says the scheme uses “resilient, climate-adapted plants and ornamental grasses”. It is designed to:

  • give colour and interest all year round
  • support bees, butterflies and other pollinators
  • cope with drought
  • cost less to maintain

Beth Chatto’s horticultural staff will also train the council’s parks team so that the beds survive after they go in.

Julia Boulton, Beth Chatto’s granddaughter and the nursery’s chief executive, said the scheme would “make a real difference to the local environment and the experience of people living, working and spending time in Southend”.

More to come across the city

Councillor Daniel Cowan, the leader of the council, said this was “the first of several planting projects” under the partnership. “Over time, similar planting schemes will be rolled out across Southend,” he said.

The council has not said where the next schemes will be, what they will cost, or what the Better Queensway planting costs.

Where Better Queensway has got to

Update, 4 November: the housing plans are now out: 934 homes, with Quantock Tower refitted rather than demolished.

Better Queensway is the council’s project to rebuild the Queensway dual carriageway and the estate beside it. The planting sits alongside the highway works, which the council says will “enable the delivery of new homes”.

Sutton Road and Southchurch Road reopened to traffic on 13 August, the first stretch handed back. Slip-road closures on Queensway continue. We set out what is open and what is still shut in Southchurch Road and Sutton Road reopen.

What it means for you

  • Expect planting crews, not closures. The council has not announced any road or pavement closures for the planting. Our Southend roadworks and travel page carries any that are published.
  • The first beds should be in by mid-November on Southchurch Road, Sutton Road and Lancaster Gardens.

Sources