People from Southall, Hayes and the wider community came together on Saturday (7 August) to celebrate the launch of a new open area of parkland, Central Gardens at The Green Quarter, in a packed day of summer fun.

The day’s events kicked off with a tree planting ceremony to mark the park opening, with local representatives of the community in attendance. The planting celebrated the 250 new trees that will be a part of Central Gardens when future phases of the park are complete.

To further recognise the opening of this new green space, Berkeley ran a competition inviting local children to submit drawings, photos or a short story on what they liked most about Central Gardens, with the winners lending a hand in the tree planting ceremony. One winner gave a speech, saying that before “there were no parks in the local area” and she thought this new green space would “help to connect different communities whilst also benefiting wildlife and plants”.

The local community turned out to enjoy the day of festivities, and a big screen showed the penultimate day of the Olympics, while guests enjoyed a host of classic funfair stalls such as a coconut shy and a test your strength game. The DJ was a favourite of attendees, entertaining with a series of live sessions throughout the day, while the flower wall, photobooth, and living statues provided guests with plenty of great Instagrammable moments.

There was a wide range of food and drink stalls, with delicious vegan cheese dishes like toasties and Mac & Cheese on offer from Damn Dirty Vegan, while Lil Watan provided authentic Lebanese food. Snack carts dotted throughout the gardens served rolled ice cream and popcorn, along with an award-winning selection of sorbet and ice cream from Oddobo’s Gelati. For thirsty guests, Lucky Pineapple brought its one-of-a-kind mobile bar with tailored mocktails designed for the day of fun.

Ashley Kensington, Managing Director at Berkeley West Thames, said: “It was wonderful to see so many of the community enjoying the new park this weekend. For us, The Green Quarter is about creating a place for nature and people to thrive. With wetlands and 2,500 trees planned across the site, Central Gardens is just the start of a major transformation of this landscape into a place for everyone to enjoy. We look forward to hosting many more community events here.”

When completed, Central Gardens will stretch 500m in length, with over 250 trees, an impressive water feature and 4.5 acres of newly accessible open space. Future phases of the 3,750-home development will provide even more open green space, with 13 acres of parkland and wetlands for the local community, and two new footbridges that will provide access to adjacent 90-acre Minet County Park. Once complete, The Green Quarter will deliver, or open up access to, more green space than St James’s Park and Green Park combined.

The Green Quarter is one of 42 Berkeley Group sites which are on course to deliver a net biodiversity gain, which means the landscape has been carefully designed to measurably enhance the natural environment, instead of taking away valuable habitats.

The Green Quarter’s marketing suite will be officially launching on Saturday (14 August) to the public. Among the refreshments for guests will be sustainable coffee cart FuelGo, which is now permanently located in Central Gardens. The marketing suite is located close to Southall Station at 1 Randolph Road, UB1 1BL and is open daily 10am – 6pm (10am – 8pm Thursday).