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Orkney Ice cream park
Kirkwall
The Bichan's are proud producers of Orkney Ice Cream and Orkney milk - and rightly so it is delicious. The park is to be created on substandard farm land in the flood zone and is designed to provide an Ice Cream visitors centre and a recreational park.
59 degrees north identified a potential partnership as a solution to the massive excavation and associated removal of inert materials from the new Orkney hospital less than a mile from the park site.
We approached the Bichan's to enquire whether they would be interested in finding a home for the excavated material from the hospital and other construction works across the county and creating a new topography to accommodate outdoor activities.The proposed park includes a football golf course, walking and mountain bike trails, grass sledging, bird watching and a 750m long body of water which has potential for kayaking and wildlife. There is to be central hub building accommodating an ice cream visitor centre, cafe and soft play. A series of habitats will be created including wetlands and ponds with local wildflowers, plants and trees to be planted to create environments to promote local wildlife including otters and the Orkney vole. There are future plans to create an Orkney native wildflower, plant and tree nursery and a campsite with eco-pods.
The Bichans were interested and the planners were keen on the project recognising its community, health and wildlife benefits and so it came to be. We secured planning and SEPA approval for this major project, which could accept up to 90,000 cubic meters of inert materials, within less than 2 months to tie in with start date of the hospital works.
The formula is a nice one, income is gained from accepting inert material - predominantly sub and top soil with stone set aside for reuse in features. The materials are then formed into an exciting and attractive topography for recreational use, habitats and shelter. The income can then fund roads, paths, features and potentially the building within the park. Creatively recycling a waste material which can often dumped without the proper consents or not put to good use.
The project is currently in the first phase with approximately 25,000 cubic meters of excavated materials imported and ready to shaped up in the summer.