By Jane Thorp, Hanover Residents Association
On Saturday, 19 September, we had a Pop-up Parklet Day in Lewes Street, in the car park next to the Greys pub. For those unfamiliar with the word ‘parklet’, I will just explain.
A parklet is a mini green space with planting, benches, bike parks, etc, which encourages wildlife and community well-being, provides stopping and resting places for those toiling on foot up our magnificent hill, and adds a pleasant ambience to a busy urban area.
Parklets will hopefully become part of what is known as a Liveable Neighbourhood, and a pilot Liveable Neighbourhood will be coming to Hanover quite soon. A Liveable Neighbourhood is one that is friendly to the people who live within it, as well as those who pass through it on foot or bicycle. It has less traffic noise because, by design, the traffic is kept local and prevents cars racing through at speed to avoid traffic lights and roadworks in the surrounding areas.
So, on Saturday, we created a small oasis in a car park and briefly turned the asphalt to green – with astroturf, garlands of autumn leaves, pot plants and flowers, balloons, table and chairs (with gold cushions!), carpets, posters, and music.
The wind blew the papers around and the sticky tape sticking the whole thing together came unstuck, but no one minded. The sun was shining, our parklet sparkled, and the Greys publican was very helpful and amenable to our crusade. We invited comment from those passers-by who dropped in on our patch of green. They came and went and enquired and listened, and there was a lot of positive feedback.
We will have more pop-ups in other parts of Hanover, weather permitting. And there will be consultation in the area to find out what changes residents would like to see in their streets, in order to make them more liveable and sociable.
Drop us an email if you’d like to find out more, or to join the Hanover’s Liveable Neighbourhood mailing list: liveablehanover@gmail.com
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