everards meadows - opening up 70 acres of green space for the community.
Everards Meadows provides 70 acres of beautiful green space to explore, with quality cycling and pedestrian walkways that connect to Route 6 on the National Cycle Network in Leicestershire. The meadows are also a haven for wildlife, with a wide variety of birds calling it home.
You can walk or cycle across the meadows and along the Grand Union Canal, winding along the banks of the River Soar into Leicester City Centre or discover the stunning Leicestershire countryside.
Everards Meadows is a shared space, opened up for all to use and enjoy.
“Stephen was the driving force behind Everards Meadows.”
says Sandra Whiles, former Chief Executive of Blaby District Council
“Delivering a lasting legacy for the Everards business and the wider community by looking at land assets and future needs a bit differently, working across the board to shape an exciting vision and finding ways to harness the will of a very complex set of interested parties who didn’t always agree.
The Everards Meadows project was extremely complex from a planning perspective. This involved opening up access to land on the busy Fosse Park traffic triangle, complicated land sales negotiations and giving assurance about the wider impact of increasing the retail offer in the area.
Stephen was the glue that made things happen. Pulling people together to shape a vision for something to be proud of. Making sure that things were kept on track. Knowing when to negotiate hard and when to be pragmatic. Acting as a role model for how things were done, so that relationships from the ground upwards worked well. Not always easy conversations, but always done with professionalism, an eye on the outcome and a commitment to partnership and collaboration within the boundaries of the planning system.
As CE of the planning authority at the time, I worked closely with Stephen for several years on the project. He is great to work with and makes things happen that everyone can be proud of.”
