Morgan Sindall Construction has started work on site to deliver Riverside Gardens, Shrewsbury town centre’s new public park, following its appointment as delivery partner for the flagship regeneration project.
Graphic courtesy of Spacehub: A visual of the new park.
Located along Roushill, Riverside Gardens marks the first phase of Shropshire Council’s ambitious regeneration programme, which will reconnect the town centre with the River Severn while enhancing links between The Darwin Centre, Roushill and Raven Meadows.
Preparatory work to demolish, clear the site and build the park itself has been made possible by £18.7 million of Levelling Up money from the UK Government which was awarded to the council in January 2023.
Developed in partnership with RivingtonHark, the council is working alongside Morgan Sindall Construction to create a distinctive new green space which will open to the public in late autumn 2026.
Riverside Gardens will provide a welcoming, accessible destination for all, enhancing biodiversity and flood resilience while boosting town centre footfall.
The park will feature attractive green landscaping, activity areas to attract more families, accessible facilities for visitors of all ages, and a dedicated events and performance area. It will also add value to the overall site, making it more viable for commercial development in the future and play an important part in reducing flood risk.
Councillor Rob Wilson, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for transport and economic growth, said:
“This is another exciting milestone in our regeneration journey and aligns perfectly with our vision to unlock the town’s fantastic riverside location, helping to attract even more visitors to explore Shropshire.
“Riverside Gardens will provide a beautiful and inclusive new space for people of all ages to enjoy and take a moment out of their busy lives. It will also serve as a new destination for outdoor community events, with a play area that’s perfect for young families – all of which will contribute to the reactivation of this part of the town centre.
“The overarching project, Smithfield Riverside, is truly collaborative and I’d like to thank our project partners, including Shrewsbury BID and Shrewsbury Town Council, for their collective effort and the tangible progress made to date.”
Councillor Alex Wagner, Shropshire Councillor for Quarry, said:
“We want to build a real community on the Riverside, and one that fits into our beautiful town centre. It’s good to see works starting on the Riverside Gardens element of the scheme, which will make the area far greener and more effective at fighting flooding.”
Richard Fielding, Morgan Sindall Construction’s area director in the Midlands, said:
“We’re really excited to start work on Riverside Gardens – it’s going to be a fantastic addition to Shrewsbury town centre. What people will see is this beautiful new park space, but there’s a huge amount of groundwork that has to happen first to make it all possible.
“The ground conditions here mean we’ve got some important drainage and foundation work ahead of us, which is absolutely critical for getting the infrastructure right so this park can handle everything from daily use to major community events.
“It’s always rewarding working on projects like this where we’re creating something that will bring families and the community together. Shrewsbury’s got such a great riverside location, and this park will really help people make the most of it while improving flood resilience for the area.”
To enable work on the park to progress, a lane closure of Smithfield Road will be needed for up to five days from Sunday 21 September. It will mean that the road will be reduced to two lanes for around 200 metres while drainage work is carried out.
Rob added:
“We appreciate that a lane closure will cause some disruption however we will ensure that this work is completed as quickly as possible.”
To find out more about the Smithfield Riverside project, people should visit https://www.smithfieldriverside.com.
