ORIGIN GREEN-TECH IMPROVES YEAR-ROUND PARKING CAPACITY AT NATIONAL TRUST CLUMBER PARK WITH CELLPAVE AP

CLIENT: National Trust

LOCATION: Clumber Park, North Nottinghamshire

PRODUCTS SUPPLIED: CellPave AP and parking markers

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Clumber Park is the most visited pay-for-entry National Trust property in the country, attracting over 700,000 visitors each year, with numbers expected to exceed 1 million in the near future. With more than 20 miles of multi-use trails across the estate, it is popular with cyclists, dog walkers and park runners, as well as families attending a wide range of seasonal events. Clumber Park is also a Grade I listed park, meaning that balancing its historical importance with the needs of hundreds of thousands of visitors requires careful consideration, thought and planning.

Providing facilities for this growing number of visitors entails addressing logistical challenges, such as increasing parking capacity. The need to balance increased capacity whilst preserving the character of the property and its surrounding grounds required an aesthetically sensitive solution.

Over a period of 12 months, Groundtrax, now part of Origin Green-tech, supplied nearly 11,000 m² of CellPave AP to reinforce the main grass car park, providing a cost-effective solution that blends into the surface and reduces its visual impact on the historic environment.

THE CHALLENGE

The park is open 364 days a year, and with its main car parking on grass, providing a year-round surface that accommodates increasing visitor numbers and offers a positive parking experience is a key priority for the whole Clumber Park Property Team.

During winter events, the existing surface can be difficult to drive on, so it became necessary to significantly reduce double-row parking and, in doing so, allow cars to pull in from one direction and drive straight forward on exit. This effectively halved the available parking capacity, with the knock-on effect of reducing visitor capacity. There were occasions when the site had to close to new visitors from mid-afternoon due to limited parking capacity. Clumber Park, like other National Trust properties, relies on well-managed visitor numbers to support its ongoing conservation work, ensuring a positive experience for today’s visitors while preserving its legacy for future generations.

ORIGIN GREEN-TECH PRODUCTS USED

CellPave AP is a key product in the Groundtrax portfolio, designed to reinforce existing grassed areas. It has been used extensively across historic properties, including a number of National Trust sites.

It is a ‘no-dig’ anchored ground-reinforcement paving tile that can be quickly and easily installed in existing grass areas and is used extensively for car parking. The grids are a much stronger alternative to roll-out meshes that are pinned into place, as the grids themselves are vibrated into the ground with a vibratory roller.

Following conversations with national colleagues, the team at Clumber Park became aware of CellPave AP following installation at Tyntesfield and with the necessary funding secured from within the National Trust, the property ordered the product across three phases.

Initially, a contractor was considered for the installation, but due to the ease and simplicity of using CellPave AP, it quickly became apparent to Gareth that his team of rangers, supported by volunteers, had the skills and personnel needed to carry out the work themselves.

One of the unique features of CellPave AP is its anchoring system. At 37mm deep, the paver provides a strong, stable surface with significant lateral strength. Barbs on the bottom edge help keep the paver securely in place as vehicles pass over the surface. All that was needed was a hired vibrating roller to push the paver into the ground, allowing the barbs to perform to their full capability. The ground at Clumber Park is sand-based and on a gradual slope. It is generally well-draining, making the product well suited to the environment.

CellPave AP was originally designed for grass runways that can accommodate light aircraft and is the only such product certified for this use. It is manufactured from high-quality recycled polymers with a checkerboard-style design, with over 50% of the surface consisting of voids. This allows much of the existing ground to remain as the primary surface, while the perforated areas allow grass to grow through. Raised nodules provide additional grip for tyres and pedestrians.

IMPACT AND OUTCOME

Clumber Park can now use the car park on a double-row basis, returning the main areas to their intended capacity. There are some smaller overflow areas where the product is not installed, and the difference in surface degradation between the reinforced and unreinforced areas is clear.

Gareth and his team have noted that during the extreme dry spells of recent summers, the grass remains greener for longer in areas where CellPave AP is installed. Although not yet investigated, it is believed that the underlying ground is less affected by vehicle movements in the areas where the product is installed, perhaps allowing earthworms below to fulfil their role in the whole ecosystem as nature intended.

The long-term plan is to re-site the main car parking to a different area on the estate. Reinforcing the existing facility provides greater flexibility and reduces the immediate pressure to replace the existing parking.

Gareth Jones, Lead Ranger, comments, “From a commercial viewpoint, the decision to reinforce the car park with CellPave AP has been a positive move. It has meant that the property can make better use of the existing parking areas throughout the year and maximise visitor numbers, supporting the costs of running the estate and, in doing so, continuing to fund the conservation vital to these types of properties.”