Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal officially opened the newly transformed Albany Green in East Cowes today (Monday), marking the completion of a major regeneration project to create a new public space overlooking the Solent.
Princess Anne was the guest of honour as she unveiled the revitalised public realm, which features new seating, planting, soft landscaping, a traditional ironmongery arch and heritage-inspired design celebrating the area’s maritime history.
During her visit, The Princess Royal toured the site, taking in views across to Cowes from the new ellipse seating area before viewing the newly installed historic propeller monument, which commemorates the area’s heritage.
She greeted local stakeholders before unveiling 2 commemorative plaques – one marking the official opening of Albany Green and another for the new propeller monument.
A large crowd gathered to welcome Her Royal Highness as the new public space was officially opened to residents and visitors.
The regeneration has transformed a previously underused part of the East Cowes Esplanade into an accessible community space. Alongside the seating area, the scheme includes landscaped gardens framed by traditional iron fencing, new shrub planting to improve biodiversity and an all-weather public space suitable for small pop-up events throughout the year.
The new seating also provides a shaded area for people working nearby, while the west-facing ellipse seating area has been designed to take advantage of views across the Solent towards Cowes and the evening sunset.
The project was funded by central government through the Levelling Up Fund, with construction carried out by Isle of Wight company Crown Park. Work began earlier this year when East Cowes Mayor Councillor Tracy Reardon officially broke ground on the scheme as previosuly reported by Island Echo.
Gino Wooldridge, Programme Manager at the Isle of Wight Council, has said:
“It was an absolute honour to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to officially open Albany Green and celebrate the transformation of this important part of East Cowes Esplanade.
“This project has turned an underused area into an attractive and accessible public space that residents, visitors and local workers can enjoy throughout the year.
“The new seating, planting, landscaping and heritage features reflect the character and history of East Cowes, while creating a welcoming place to sit, meet and enjoy the spectacular views across the Solent.
“I also want to give my thanks to contractors ERMC and Crown Park for their efforts on this project.”
