Artificial grass needed to protect Cornish attraction

Planning permission is being sought for artificial grass to be installed to protect areas of Cornwall’s historic St. Michael’s Mount.

MRDA Architects on behalf of St. Aubyn Estates, which manages the tourist attraction, has submitted plans to Cornwall Council to install artificial grass lawns to the north of the cafe on the island. The reasons for this is because of the damage caused by the high volume of visitors on the existing lawn.

To support the planning application, MRDA Architects, said:

"The impact of ever-increasing visitor numbers on the former drying lawn has been to destroy the grass and, in the wet, to reduce the bare soil to mud.”

Temporarily, 100 tonnes of topsoil was removed and replaced with hardcore and a top dressing of gravel. However, the gravel was a safety problem with minor injuries caused when children fell. The proposal is to lay artificial grass over geotex with a type 1 MOT granular sub-base and bordered by existing cobbles. This will resemble the original look of the area.

St. Aubyn Estates, in support of its application, said artificial grass has been successfully installed in sites managed the Royal Horticultural Society and the National Trust.

Many organisations have installed artificial grass in Chester. They may not have the number of people walking on their grass as St Michael’s Mount, but they find artificial grass a good-looking and safe covering for outside areas that can be enjoyed all year round, whatever the weather.