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Dereliction and Redevelopment
Preliminary research, plans and consultation
The Country Park was designed as a joint effort by many
County Council employees working together in three teams. There was the reclamation
team, who were engineers and surveyors. 
Aerial
view of the Depot site in 1989, just before demolition beganThey planned
and managed the demolition stage. The landscape team designed and supervised
the landscaping stage, and the countryside team, who were a group with varied
skills from foresters to soil scientist, designed and organised all the planting.
Frank Kerry recalls:
“During the period we were negotiating with the Property Services Agency who liked the idea of a Business Park. They suggested that the County Council bought the land then about 30 acres could be sold off when cleared as a Business Park. The rest could become a Country Park. Rushcliffe Borough Council Planning Department liked the idea so we began to design in more detail.
There were some feasibility studies done and a lot of investigations carried out for contamination. We thought we ought to have a lake and had a hydrological firm to survey the site. They discovered there was a double culvert. It was a very big culvert; you could actually walk in it, and the stream (Gibson’s Dyke) never dried out even in the most dry season. We had contact with the Main Line Steam Trust at Loughborough and they fancied coming in with something, which is now the Heritage Centre.
We realised that basically the site was flat and it needed some shape put into it, so we decided that all the rubble, and there was masses of it, we would bury in mounds and that would create the shape. It all took a long time.”
The preliminary plans of Ruddington Country Park went out for public consultation. A travelling exhibition visited St. Peter’s Rooms in Ruddington and was well attended. The feedback received was very favourable, often enthusiastic and generally constructive. Local residents began to feel involved in the project. Typical comments were:
“An excellent plan, but could the footpaths be separated from the cycle track and bridle path?”
“Wonderful, except there is no children’s play area. This is essential.”
The Story > Chapter 9 > Section 9.05