City plants seeds of a warmer welcome

But for tens of thousands of ferry passengers coming into Hull, the newly-revamped roundabout at the entrance to Hull Docks will provide a far better welcome than the overgrown mess it has replaced.

The improvements are part of a project being run by Hull Civic Society to improve the stretch of the A63 between Saltend and Priory Park, and were paid for by the Highways Agency.

The roundabout, which has been divided by fencing to resemble groynes, with gravel resembling sand creeping up the edges, and set out with cobbles, has been planted with over 5,000 plants.

Chairman of Hull Civic Society John Netherwood said: “For around 1m passengers coming off ferries a year this is the first and last view people get of our city and the roundabout was looking very rundown.

“I’m very pleased with what has been done so far.

“There’s going to be over 5,000 plants eventually and over time the beach will become less of a beach and more of a garden.”

The next step in the project is to improve the derelict piece of land left over when the A63 was revamped in 2003 and put either a sculpture, flags or sign to spell out: “Welcome to Hull.”

The project began 18 months ago – and is regarded as particularly timely given the recent announcement that Siemens are developing a wind turbine factory in the city.

A new factory at Alexandra Dock, a five-minute drive further down the road, will manufacture the nacelles, which house the generating components, and the structures will then be assembled and loaded onto ships taking them out to offshore farms off the East Coast of Yorkshire. It will be the first factory in the UK to manufacture nacelles, currently made by Siemens in Denmark, China and Kansas.

The improvements followed regular meetings between the Civic Society and representatives from the Highways Agency and Hull Council and Associated British Ports.

Mr Netherwood said: “This is an example of the Big Society – the Civic Society doesn’t have the money, power or statutory responsibility, but we are chairing this project between the city council and the Highways Agency and lots has been achieved.”

Mark Jones, head of economic development and regeneration at Hull Council, said: “The work on the project is strong testimony to Hull Civic Society’s work to improve the environment of our city – to make Hull a better place to live, work, play and invest.

“The society’s work with the Council and the Highways Agency on the roundabout will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people each year who travel through Hull’s Gateway to Europe or do business at the docks as part of the Green Port Hull project.”