Thorpe Marriott Greenway

The Thorpe Marriott Greenway is designed to promote better greenspace and access in the Thorpe Marriott area. The Greenway creates a path through the current tree belt to link the Thorpe Marriott estate, the Marriott's Way, Nabour Furlong, Pendlesham Rise, Littlewood (three woodlands owned by Broadland District Council) and the Northern Distributor Road (NDR) green bridge that leads to Drayton Drewray.

Prior to this project, the tree belts in this area were fragmented in terms of ecology and public access. To address this problem, the project delivered:

• A brand new 1.7km footpath through the Thorpe Marriott estate woodland
• New kissing gates at road crossings for multiple public access points on to the new path
• Relocation of Openreach pole to improve route visibility
• New drop kerbs to facilitate access
• Interpretation boards
• Installed new steps with a handrail
• Improved access to Marriott's Way via woodland
• Footpath connecting the Marriott's Way and Broadland Country Park
• Ancient trees protected through no dig construction methodology

The need for this project was originally identified in the West Broadland GI Project Plan 2018, and was brought forward due to local development pressure from both housing and the NDR. This is an important project which improves access to green space for the local community, it also enhances connections to key strategic GI sites such as Broadland Country Park and Marriott's Way.

The project also aligns with policies and projects within the Drayton Neighbourhood Plan which seeks to enhance and expand the network of footpaths around Drayton, as well as improving access to Drayton Drewray which lies just to the north of Thorpe Marriott, across the route of the NDR.

Taverham has a population of approx. 10,000, and the access improvements have the potential to benefit all the residents of Taverham. The new paths and access improvements are very well used and have meant the local community can walk all year round without having to getting into their cars and drive to another green space. The no dig approach to the footpath improvements has helped protect the trees from compaction, which will prolong the lives of the trees and reduce the chance of decay and disease. Future works will be to improve the connectivity to Broadland Country Park across the Reepham Road and through Mystical Woods.