Waterfront Business Improvement District, Plymouth Waterfront

Plymouth Waterfront Partnership
Plymouth Waterfront Partnership | 2021 | Plymouth

Plymouth Waterfront Partnership

Plantscape recently worked with Plymouth Waterfront Partnership as part of an environmental project to improve Plymouth Waterfront. Since installation, Plymouth’s Waterfront has been awarded a Gold award at the 2021 South West in Bloom Awards.

Plantscape recently worked with Plymouth Waterfront Partnership as part of an environmental project to improve Plymouth Waterfront. Plymouth Waterfront Partnership, which manages the city’s Waterfront Business Improvement District (PWP BID), originally approached us as they wanted to add floor standing planters to the area that would brighten up the environment and add ‘something spectacular’.

To find out more about how the planters have impacted the area, we spoke to Waterfront Manager and Chief Executive, Diana Mansell.

“The planters have made such as huge difference in the environment of the waterfront. Our old planters were not highway compliant and had to be removed and we wanted to replace them with something spectacular and these definitely did the job”.

The planters have received some great feedback from local residents and businesses. They were even voted one of the best 10 things to happen to Plymouth in 2021. This has led to more businesses asking Plymouth Waterfront Partnership to install additional floral features in the future. “We are already looking at other locations to add both permanent and seasonal planting,” Diana said.

Plymouth Waterfront

Speaking on the impact the transformation has had on local businesses, Diane mentioned: “The impact has been huge as the installation of the planters has been only one part of an environmental project which has seen an overhaul of the whole Waterfront environment. This includes painting street furniture, removal of grot spots, improved bins and thinking about how all of this affects our impact on the environment around us.”

Commenting further, Diana stated: “The planters were purchased to stop pavement parking on a very narrow one-way street. Before the planters were installed the Local Authority received 1200 complaints in one year in a small section of the road from visitors who didn’t feel safe walking down the street. Since the installation, these complaints have ceased.”

The project also heavily focused on involving the local community. Plymouth Waterfront Partnership Business Improvement District ran a competition to decorate the sides of the planters with local school children’s designs. The competition received a total of 135 entries from children aged 5-11 from schools including St Andrew’s C of E Primary School, Pilgrim Primary School and Hyde Park Junior School.

Since installation, Plymouth’s Waterfront has been awarded a Gold award at the 2021 South West in Bloom Awards, a great achievement for everyone involved.