Heaton Park Visitor Centre

As a native Mancunian I am concerned with the scale of development happening around the city that often neglects the public’s desires. As an industrial city, Manchester was always relatively devoid of green space and the few that we have left should be celebrated. In the last year alone we have seen the inner city’s largest wildlife expanse, Pomona island, entirely destroyed to priviledge the elite few considered

worthy enough to live in new luxury apartments that will sit on an area once home to several rare species of wildlife. Heaton park is quickly becoming the final bastion of a Mancunian ecology. I believe a visitor centre should reflect the values of those who hold the park dear and as such it is important that the building is a place where people can enquire and be educated about the surroundings.

Popular visitor routes are well defined - encompassing the majority of the south and central areas of the park. It seems the southern entrance to the park receives the most footfall due to the metrolink being here. This is also where the majority of the activities take place - aside from the golf course, the overflow, tramway and stables are all along the south to central walking route.

I have chosen my plot area based on a combination of factors - but first it was necessary to establish where I could not use, due to current ownership, annual events or proximity to unsightly infrastructure. My plot is the Heaton Park Overflow. While the park is generally a high-lying area for the region, the south western side is where the topography is at its mildest. A visitor centre here would

ensure those with mobility problems would not have trouble reaching the visitor centre. It is also along the most popular route into the park - roughly halfway between the metrolink station and Heaton Hall.

The three most popular routes into the park intersect at the overflow. Thus, the placement of a visitor centre here will be convenient for most of the

visitors. The overflow is arguably the best spot to sit and observe wildlife. The visitor centre would not only be away from the nearby water processing plant and communications tower but, sat atop the lake, would act as a bittersweet reminder of what may happen if we continue to disregard our environment and catalyse global warming.