Hi all,
My Garden Plaza submission has been rejected multiple times by the community and after appeals. I am confused as to why. Plazas are specifically listed in the criteria as potential great places to socialise, and I think especially with a unique design for the village and decorative plants, this is more than just a bench. I believe benches accompanied by a feature to look at can be eligible as great places to explore. This plaza makes for a great place to exercise too for the elderly living there to stop to rest on walks.
What am I missing? My last appeal just said I should take a photo of a placemarker sign to improve my chances but there isnât one, and I believe it has been clarified these are not necessary. I believe I am already following the content guidelines.
Thanks
I have resubmitted again with some changes. Hereâs hoping this time will yield
sorry no one helped you with this. i had no suggestions to make. it doesnât look like a plaza to me, just a bench along a sidewalk where you can sit.
maybe i should tag @thundurbuht69 for you. he also submits âplazasâ that donât look like plazas to me and sometimes gets them accepted. (apologies if i tagged the wrong user since the spelling is a bit different than on WDD)
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Plazas are tough to nominate and the only anchor you have here is the bench. I see that it is also next to a parking lot which makes it even harder since people might just see it as a sidewalk. I know it can be frustrating for people to understand your nomination and I almost didnât see it as well.
I have a few questions
What I want to know is who is this plaza for? You mentioned community but what kind? Is it residential, commercial, industrial? Are there parks nearby?
What is the size of your plaza and where does it lead? Some plazas connect people to other communities like footbridge/pedestrian walkways. Is there a park at the end of your plaza, itâs fine if it has dead ends but it helps to know
Is there only benches and trees in this area?
How do people benefit. I think you did well explaining how people use it but, Plazas* are considered a type of park area and both share many benefits like recreational. There could be many other options for people for people to wait for their neighbors or friends, why is this area special.
Those are some questions that I can start you of with that arenât exactly clear to me right now. I am also wondering what the rest of the plaza looks like, maybe there are other features that could help.
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Another sorry that yours didnât get any help when you posted.
Could you tell us roughly where this is please so we can look?
A plaza is usually a big open square often with shops or other important buildings. The title of garden plaza in a residential area does not sound quite right, and first impressions matter. Perhaps we can help to come up with something more apt.
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Thanks. I consider it more than a bench because it has three small garden features. My definition of plaza and what I have seen online is an open space in a built area for the public. This one is very small though
I would say this plaza is for the elderly who live in the immediate vicinity. There are lots of bungalows and a retirement home nearby and this plaza provides a place for residents to rest on a walk. It may be what makes a walk possible for them.
No park very nearby. Itâs tiny, just what you can see in the pictures, a strip alongside the path that connects two different housing estates. Itâs the plants that makes it more than just a bench and worth checking out for some people at least.
I have written this information in my submissions but perhaps I need to keep trying with all of that information included together, accepting itâs borderline or not eligible to many people. Itâs a difficult sell with it not looking in the best condition too.
Thank you. I created a pin: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SaTmKXpryHxdA11Z6
I have struggled to name it and itâs potentially not a plaza based on definition. I have tried âGarden Rest Areaâ but that didnât work either.
My most recent has just been rejected by AI lol
I have also experimented with naming some of my nominations. Many people view plazas as strip malls in the US, urban planners and designers use any space available in a big city to create public spaces wether or not itâs connected to buildings directly and are called plazas. In Europe itâs a more traditional view where there are storefronts and in many cases cars are not allowed.
From what you are describing it seems like a limited access courtyard that was made for people to socialize nearby. Some homes in big cities do not have any garden space and use their front porch/stoop to hang out and your nomination reminds me of that. I think your nomination is eligible. I would try calling it a courtyard.
Personally for the main image I would try getting a close up picture of the tree and bench (like in your supporting) but on the opposite side and frame it with the tree on the left and bench on the right so you get less of the parking lot. And keep your supporting image. Your nomination is tough, these kinds of public spaces usually are. Hope this helps.
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Thanks for that it is helpful.
As this is the U.K. (fellow U.K. wayfinderđ) the term Garden plaza is one to avoid. It just isnât a term used in housing estates like this and will have reviewers scratching their heads right from the start. ( not a good idea )
It is not much much more than a grass verge and at best this would be a community garden. To stand a chance it needs something more than the trees and grass in this narrow space.
If you canât add anything to the area then the advice about photos is good and describing the issue of seeing too.
A fairly basic raised bed / some large planters, would do improve it. With the bungalow housing for mobility issues a raised bed plus the bench starts to make a real focus, plant some herbs so that people could use as needed. Maybe asking around you could find a local councillor happy to offer a little help.
Other simple additions that would give more of a focus - a bug hotel - a project for kids to get recyclable material and build - local school? Maybe get permission for it to be left to go wild seed wildflowers. And create a little free library doesnât need to be fancy. I can see itâs on a footpath so things like this enhance the area.
There are other areas around there that are similar so these ideas could be spread around.
All of these are low cost ideas but need a push from local community.
I can see on street view that the bench has been there for quite a few years but you need to move around to find it so it could be easily missed.
It looks like Lawrence house has a seating area outside of it that could be good.
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Iâm usually one for trying to see the best in any nomination but to me this looks like a bench at the side of a car park. Iâm also a UK reviewer.
I think Thundurbuht gave some great advice about the questions your nomination text needs to answer, and having seen their nominations of urban spaces, they put a lot of effort into a really stunning picture which I think always helps.
I also absolutely love Elijustryingâs ideas on what could be added to the space that would make it much easier for reviewers to see why its important. A 2nd bench would make this seem much more of a social spot for residents of the area too, which would make it seem more significant to me.
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