White Rock Business Park |
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Whole Project Award
Project Team:
Client: Torbay Council & South West Regional Development Agency
Design: Scott Wilson & Hyder Consulting
Construction: South West Highways
The Project:
White Rock Business Park is a new development in Torbay, jointly funded by the South West Regional Development Agency and Torbay Council. The site is located in the White Rock area, south of Long Road and west of the Torbay Ring Road. It is on the Paignton urban fringe, with residential areas immediately to the east. The site is partially greenfield and partially redevelopment of a brownfield site.
The CEEQUAL Assessment covered the associated infrastructure for the business park, including the access roads, landscaping and drainage. The scheme comprises the design and construction of the road and drainage infrastructure.
Access roads
Amendments to the initial design have seen the incorporation of a new take off lane from Brixham Road in to Waddington Close. The re-modelled kerb line has helped to improve final aesthetics
The design substituted concrete Beanie Blocks for recycled Beany Blocks (Envirokerb) which fit with the environmental ethos of the new business park.
The design was also amended to raise the new roundabout, thus avoiding the need to lower or move existing services. This reduced project timescales and disruption to road users and neighbours.
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Landscaping and biodiversity
The project demonstrates the incorporation of sensitive design and mitigation measures to reduce the visual impacts of the park on the neighbouring Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The scheme also provides an area of public open space to allow users to relax and enjoy the setting.
The design includes for ecological enhancement by providing significant areas of grassland and a stone-faced hedgebank sown with an attractive mix of native lowland meadow wildflowers. This is a priority habitat for the area as identified by the Devon County Biodiversity Action Plan. This will have a positive impact on the botanical value of the site.
100% of topsoil was re-used on site.
Drainage
The project includes the construction of an attenuation tank in an area previously prone to flooding. This was designed to require zero maintenance and incorporates features to deal with climate change predictions and is expected to provide lasting benefits to the local road network, as localised flooding has, in the past, caused problems on the nearby Waddington Road.
Social Impacts
The new scheme will provide benefits for local residents in the nearby Waddington Road by changing a current rat-run to access only. All traffic will be diverted through the new White Rock Business Park access road.
During construction, manually operated traffic lights were used to reduce congestion at peak times. Noise levels were monitored and reduced where possible by switching off plant when not in use.
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