The ‘Wave’ bench outside St Peter’s Church was designed by Tim Germain (aka ‘The Bench Man’) and marks the start of Greener Ipswich’s project to plant up some of the spaces near the roundabout and opposite the Novotel Hotel.
Greener Ipswich was awarded funds from the Town’s Fund project to create a ‘Green Trail’ from Christchurch park to the Waterfront. By having this new bench plus attractive planting in the area it will encourage people to wander from the Saints (St Peter’s Street) to the Waterfront and vice versa. Crossing Star Lane and College Street can be quite daunting for some people, so making the area a more pleasant environment should help in linking the town centre and the Marina.
Annett Thompson, Senior Project Manager at Concertus Design and Property Consultants Ltd said, “We are so pleased to be part of the Greener Ipswich Task Force with other local businesses. It has been a pleasure working with Tim on the regeneration of our town. We look forward to working with the team to deliver more projects within the community in the near future“.
Oak was salvaged from trees in Ipswich parks to make the seat and other materials for the bench were sourced locally. As well as ‘greening up’ the area near the bench there are also plans to reuse the tall wooden planters (seen around town) by resizing and replanting them and placing them along St Peter’s Port. This will be supported by Greener Ipswich and the Eden-Rose Trust working in Brickmaker’s Wood.
Photo: Tim Germain and Annett Thompson ‘take a rest’ on the new Greener Ipswich bench. Credit: Concertus Design and Property Consultants