A major feature of this park will be the new lake and islands, aimed at providing aesthetic, amenity, water attenuation, and ecological value through habitat creation and management.
The lake area will cover approximately 0.95ha (2.34 acres) of which 0.88ha (2.17 acres) will be water and 904m2 will form the two islands.
One of the islands will be accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and those using wheelchairs and mobility scooters, while the smaller of the two will be for wildlife only.
Two 2.4m wide bridges will connect to the larger island, each clear-spanning 12m of water and lake bank.
The concrete bridge abutments will be concealed by planted earth embankments and local stone boulders to present a ‘natural’ feel, while the bridge paving will be a continuation of the self-binding gravel used elsewhere in the park.
1.1m high timber balustrades will align each bridge, and while forming a gentle arch no paved gradients will exceed 1:21.
The lake edge will be sinuous and principally ‘soft’ with a mix of native floating, emergent and marginal perennials, along with shrubs and trees.
Accessibility to the water will be restricted to an area of cobble beach located on the southern side of the lake. The gradient of this feature, and all ‘soft’ lake edges, will be less than 1:3 at a consistent slope down to a water depth of 1.5m.
At the eastern end and on the southern side of the lake, two areas of vertical (‘hard’) lake edge define a boardwalk deck and performance area. These lake edges will be formed in local rock-filled gabions with 1.1m high timber balustrades.
Gradients are shallower at the western end of the lake and sections of the northern edge affording conditions suitable for sustaining a diverse marshland ecosystem of aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, wildfowl and plant life.
Furthermore, small reedbeds have been designed to intercept water entering the lake from the wider park drainage network, and at the north-western overspill to filter water prior to flow into Littlemead Brook.
A mix of reeds and rushes has been selected to combine plant variety with filtration performance; their principal function is to separate suspended silt/solids from water entering the lake.
Reeds will be cut annually. Silt removal will be carried out commensurate with levels of accumulation.
There will be picnic tables, benches and litter bins located around the lake, and 9 cycle stands at the far eastern end.
Signs will be installed at key locations around the lake and at the park entrances warning visitors of the hazard of deep water.
An unpaved track, accessible only for maintenance and management work along the northern lake edge and adjacent stretch of Littlemead Brook, will be kept cleared with lockable gates at each end.