Visitor centre opens its doors
11:14am Tuesday 11th July 2006 in In Focus By Alison White
An environmentally-friendly visitor centre for the north Kent countryside will be officially opened on Sunday. ALISON WHITE finds out why the £3.5m project is expected to create a focal point for Thames Gateway regeneration.
EVERYTHING about the design of Shorne Wood Country Park's new visitor facility is aimed at protecting the environment.
Even down to the way it is heated and where water is sourced.
Kent County Council (KCC), which owns the park, says the innovative new centre will attract visitors to the park in Brewers Road, Shorne, and will become a landmark within the Thames Gateway regeneration area thanks to special funding.
KCC received £924,000 of the money needed for the project from the Department for Communities and Local Government Thames Gateway Programme.
Work has been under way for more than 10 months at Shorne Wood, which is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
‘This will be a delightful centre for Shorne’s many visitors.’
PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR MARK READ
The crescent-shaped £2.2m structure was modelled on traditional framed buildings, including old churches and barns.
A large crane was needed to lift 17 sweet chestnut beams into place to create the shell of the building.
Some of the timber used was sourced from the park itself and the rest came from across the south east.
KCC has incorporated a number of environmental features into the building.
The centre has a wind turbine, solar roof panels and a bio-digester, which cleanses water by breaking down waste.
Rainwater will be collected and recycled and a wood-chip boiler will be used to heat the building and there is an "eco-friendly" cafe, which has seats both inside and out, and toilets within the centre.
Visitors can also enjoy the tree-top public viewing deck and education and conference area.
The new centre is part of a £3.5m investment to improve Shorne Wood Country Park.
Access to the whole park will be improved with new trails for wheelchairs and baby buggies as part of the project.
The public are invited to join in an archaeological excavation searching for evidence of the 288-acre park's past during its first week.
And there are a series of excavations planned for next year.
Alongside the new facilities, visitors can still enjoy the park's sensory garden, arboretum, lakes, ponds and marked trails.
The centre will be officially opened on Sunday.
KCC cabinet member for environment, transport and waste, Councillor Keith Ferrin, said: "A range of innovative, sustainable and renewable technologies together help make this building such an important achievement."
Project co-ordinator Mark Read said: "This will be a delightful centre for Shorne's many visitors.
"The county council has deliberately included special features and used environmentally-friendly construction techniques to make it a model for sustainable development."
PARK LIFE: SHORNE WOOD FACTS
- SHORNE Wood Country Park is signposted off the A2 between Gravesend and Rochester at the Cobham, Shorne and Higham junction.
- It consists mainly of ancient woodland.
- There is also heathland, an old clay extraction pit, meadows and wetlands.
- The arboretum contains almost every species of native tree found in Kent.
- Archaelogical excavations are planned to unearth a manor house, a bronze age barrow, a Roman road and a 19th-century carriage route.
- Work on improving access around the park is planned for the next five years.
- The park is open daily from 9am until dusk apart from Christmas Day.
