Perth Food & Drink Park
- Perth & Kinross Council have recognised the economic value that established and well groomed landscape can bring to Industrial and Business Parks and are starting to implement the landscape well in advance of the first build unit. This forward-looking approach avoids expensive retrofitting of green-infrastructure, helps bio-diversity targets and most importantly will impact on the economic performance of the park.
The benefits of well-structured and early established landscape frameworks are manifold. The most relevant ones for the Food and Drink Park are economic and environmental benefits:
An increasing number of studies identify economic benefits as a result of Green Infrastructure. Well planned and executed green infrastructure can boost commercial trading by up to 40% (The economic benefits of Green Infrastructure: The public and business case for investing in Green Infrastructure and a review of the underpinning evidence, natural economy north West).
An example of the economic benefits is provided by the soft landscaping and security improvements undertaken at Langthwaite Grange Industrial Estate, Wakefield. Since starting in 2005, 16 new businesses have moved in bringing over £12m investment and creating 200 new jobs. Crime has also fallen by 70% in 12 months. (Benefits of green infrastructure: Report to Defra and CLG, Forest research, 2010.)
In addition to the planting works within the new Perth Food and Drink Park improvement works to the approach along Arran Road have been implemented. Innovative tree pit design developed in Stockholm have been introduced and trialed to reduce the failure rate of newly established trees in difficult urban environments.
- Category
- Blue & Green Infrastructure
- Client
- Perth & Kinross Council
- Status
- Completed June 2016
- Photographs
- Tina Norris