Princes Park - Dartford Football Club

Reading article "Princes Park - Dartford Football Club" - Reply to this / 6 comment(s)
Apparently it's been 14 years since Dartford FC had their own ground. This is said to be one of the best none league grounds in the country and even has a green roof! Yes, that's right, they have a turf roof....

My son's nursery is just around the corner, so I've been going past it most days since works began, and it looks as if it's going to be on track for the 11th November. I have to say that it's a great project from ecolocal's perspective - for the community, encouraging exercise for all and with excellent transport links (there's a Fastrack stop specifically for the ground) and of course the green roof.

I'm not a football follower my self, but I have to say that this is on the mark. I hope that it's succesful. I'd like to know if there are any more green aspects to the build, so I'll make some enquiries and post them here if there are.

http://www.dartford.gov.uk/princespark/ 

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1. Re: Princes Park - Dartford Football Club by duncan, 333 days ago

   Thanks very much to Paul Burnett, who's provided us with the following information:
   
   "Regarding the "green-ness" of Dartford Football Club's new Princes Park stadium, you may like to be aware that in addition to its grassed roof, it has many other "green" elements built into its design and construction, including the following. It has solar panels on the roof to provide hot water; the pitch and floodlights are deliberately set below the level of the surrounding terrain in order to reduce noise and (flood)light pollution for the neighbouring population; it has a small lake to collect rainwater for recycling purposes; and the main building has timber cladding for insulation purposes. I hope that helps to set your members' minds at rest."
   
   This is brilliant news, and I think it sets a great example to other community projects, both small and large, of what can be done to really improve the "green-ness" of a project.
   
   Another point I read on the site was that they are allowing the car parking to be used by the public on week days so that they can park and then use the Fastrack bus service to get into Dartford, Blue Water or Greenhithe etc, therefore saving on the use of private vehicles and meaning that the site is used all of the time.
   
   All in all, I think that it is one of the best mainstream green projects that I have come across for a long time. I hope the team do well in their new grounds and that the fans really benefit from it.
   
   All tickets have now sold out for the grand opening match on 11th Nov, which has to be a good sign :)

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   1. Re: Re: Princes Park - Dartford Football Club by ecosrights, 337 days ago

      I've just found that even the RICS (Royal Institute of Charted Surveyors) are acknowledging the stadium as being "green" and sustainable - that's quite a feat!

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2. Re: Princes Park - Dartford Football Club by duncan, 336 days ago

   There's a useful FAQ for anyone planning to go to the first game here:
   
   http://www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk/forum/ind...
   
   And there's a nice photo guide too:
   
   http://dartfordfootballclub.co.uk/princespark/p...

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3. Re: Princes Park - Dartford Football Club by duncan, 333 days ago

   I've found out even more information, this time from TreeHugger. There are two lakes nearby to store rainwater for watering the grass, meaning that 'in an average year the ground staff should not need to take any water from the main supply to water the pitch. In a complete drought the ponds will be able to supply water for almost two months without being topped up', which is very, very impressive.

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4. Re: Princes Park - Dartford Football Club by duncan, 330 days ago

   The first game seems to have been an incredible success, by all accounts.
   
   The News Shopper has a good round up over here:
   
   http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/dartgravenews...
   
   Even more amazingly, the architect is the exquistively named 'Mei-yun Valdivia a L'Onions'.

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5. Re: Princes Park - Dartford Football Club by jane, 169 days ago

   Wayne Hemmingway of the Red or Dead label, who is one of the main residential designers of Dartford's section of theThames Gateway (and here development, has said that "Princes Park is better than Wembly" due to its sustainabe design. He said that it has set the standards for future stadium developments. This is a great accolade for a small local team's stadium.
   
   The players and fans love it as well - they're even chasing promotion this season.

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