New stage of Armada Way's upgrade is now open

A GIANT PLAY AREA, THE SIZE OF FIVE TENNIS COURTS, IS NEXT...

- By ALISON STEPHENSON

THE front garden of thousands of prospective city centre residents in Plymouth is taking shape as the first zone of the Armada Way regeneration is fully opened to the public.

The £30 million scheme, which aims to transform the half a kilometre, 60-metre wide space into an urban park, is a step closer with new green spaces, 94 trees, bug hotels, wildflower meadows, hedges, borders, lawns, picnic areas and another 150 metres of cycleway linking the train station to the Hoe installed.

In July the amphitheatre and fountain area was opened and now visitors and shoppers can walk through the next part of the regeneration from Mayflower Street to Cornwall Street, which has opened up views to Smeaton’s Tower and the Naval Memorial on the Hoe.

With hundreds of new homes earmarked for the Armada Way area as part of a masterplan for 10,000 properties in the city centre over the next decade, the park will serve as a front garden for tower block living.

A giant play area, the size of five tennis courts, will be the next stage to be completed in early 2026 and the regeneration will be fully complete by early summer next year.

The project is believed to be one of the largest city centre public realm schemes being constructed in the country, and has involved 80 to 90 people on site each day, seven days a week.