Faro Council is moving ahead with plans for a major new urban park at Quinta da Penha, bringing together green space, sport and leisure facilities in an area alongside the Ribeira das Lavadeiras stream.
The Alameda 21 project is still at an early stage, but concept images released by the municipality show an ambitious transformation of the existing orchard into a large public park with extensive tree cover and areas for recreation and physical activity.
Plans envisage facilities including a BMX circuit, sports pitches and courts, an outdoor calisthenics area, walking and cycling routes, picnic areas, a café and landscaped spaces, alongside large areas of existing and new vegetation.
The project also proposes retaining and enhancing the Ribeira das Lavadeiras and surrounding natural landscape, including water-management features and areas designed to support biodiversity.
Faro Council has now created a dedicated Advisory Commission to help guide the project, with its first meetings taking place on October 8 and 9.
The commission brings together specialists and organisations with experience in projects of this nature, including representatives of the Ordem dos Engenheiros (Portuguese Association of Engineers), the Ordem dos Arquitetos (Portuguese Association of Architects) and the University of the Algarve.
Public bodies with responsibilities over the site are also involved, including the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR Algarve), Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) and municipal company FAGAR.
Environment central to plans
The involvement of so many organisations reflects the particular sensitivity of the proposed location.
The land is currently occupied by an orchard and falls within both Portugal’s National Agricultural Reserve (RAN) and National Ecological Reserve (REN), partly because of the watercourse running through it.
The council says this makes it particularly important to consider environmental, landscape and planning issues from the beginning rather than attempting to address them once a design has already been finalised.
Its intention is for Alameda 21 to become a public green and leisure area while preserving and enhancing the natural characteristics of the site.
The advisory group will therefore examine how recreational facilities can be combined with environmental protection, existing infrastructure and territorial planning restrictions.
Concept plans suggest that sport would play an important role in the future park. Alongside the BMX area and outdoor exercise equipment, the drawings envisage football and other multipurpose sports areas and padel courts, surrounded by trees and connected by a network of paths.
Other illustrations show shaded seating and picnic areas, a café terrace and broad pedestrian routes running through the park.
The plans also place considerable emphasis on water and landscape management, with the Ribeira das Lavadeiras forming part of the park rather than being separated from it.
A new meeting place for Faro
The municipality says its broader goal is to increase the amount of green and recreational space available in Faro and create a new meeting place for residents.
Rather than simply building a collection of sports facilities, the council says the project should be developed as an integrated landscape where outdoor activity, recreation and environmental protection coexist.
The newly created commission will now help establish the guiding principles for the project before more detailed plans are developed.
No construction timetable or overall budget has yet been announced.