The Fawcett Road site to be redeveloped into a new pocket park
Portsmouth City Council has announced funding for a new "Pocket Park’" on the corner of Fawcett Road and Goldsmiths Avenue.
The project will give more choices to pedestrians and cyclists by improving lighting on the path.
Currently, the area is unlit with poor visibility at night. Student Jessica Hunter said she doesn’t walk through the path for her own safety saying “I tend to walk along the road where there are cars, people and lights.”
The park fulfills a function of the national Safer Streets Initiative, which was set up to tackle violence against women through street safety improvement projects.
Some 756 crimes were reported in Charles Dickens ward in August 2023, of which 292 were violent or sexual crimes and 92 were of anti-social behaviour.
The patch is currently one of the only green spaces in the area and the project will build upon this, adding new lighting, seating, and plant life. Council leader Steve Pitt said: “It’s a great opportunity to create a much more functional, and greener route from the station to the seafront.”
The project will begin construction in spring 2024, and is being funded by The South Western Railway Customer and Communities Improvement Fund.
Comments