Streets in Dundee’s Stobswell are to be converted into “pocket parks” to increase recreation space.
Dundee City Council is pressing ahead with the £80,000 scheme, which will see two streets pedestrianised and decorated with graffiti art, plants and benches.
If the green light is given at the end of a public consultation, the work could be completed by the end of May.
Those living and working in the affected routes, Craigie Street and Eliza Street, have largely welcomed the proposals.
June Garty, co-owner of Just Right for Reptiles on Albert Street, adjacent to Craigie Street, said: “I’m okay with it, seems to be a fine idea.
“It looks like it could be quite good.”
But she did raise concerns about parking availability, adding: “It’s not great to take away more spaces from the area, that might make things worse for us.”
Her employee, Rob Crighton, added: “I think that anything that brightens up this area, brightens up Dundee, is a good thing.”
Designs for the colourful pocket parks were developed through community workshops then fine-tuned by the UNESCO City of Design team and the Service Design Academy.
The proposals form part of the Scottish Government Spaces for People scheme which provides cash to create safer areas to walk and cycle.
Those living on Craigie Street have also voiced support for the new plans, however there are still some concerns.
One resident said: “The area has a lot of unused potential and it would be nice to have somewhere to sit and relax.
“The only thing is that we haven’t had a lot of correspondence about it yet, so it would be good to learn a bit more, but we’ve been asking for something like this for a while now so it is good.”
Despite some doubts from others, Stobswell Forum chairman Colin Clement is fully behind the plan.
He said: “Not only are we advocates for this, we’ve been an active part of the design.
“I think what you’ve got to look at is, with Albert Street, you’ve got a shopping centre there which, like any shopping centre in the Western world, is under pressure right now.
“Right now, we actually do quite well and there’s quite a high occupancy rate, but it could be better.
“You have places like Eliza Street and Craigie Street which are dead end streets which have become overflow car parks and there’s more that could be done with them.
“We want to bring in some colour and a sense of fun.”
Mark Flynn, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee said he hopes the parks will improve the health and wellbeing of Stobswell residents.
“In densely populated areas like Stobswell with lots of tenements, it is important to help create a sense of community and one way of doing this is to use residential streets in a different way that hands them back over to people,” he said.
“Over the years our quiet residential streets have got busier and busier, but the pandemic has given us a chance to take stock and look at what is really important to people and the way they live in our communities.
“This creative and fun response, which has been supported by the work of the UNESCO City of Design Dundee team, gives the streets back to people of all ages.”
Views on the proposals can be sent to contact@dundeecityofdesign.com