The Arboretum Park at Moissy-Cramayel is a country park and leisure area, accessible to all and self-financed. The Arboretum Park was created by ECT over a period of 18 months, using soil excavated from nearby sites of the construction & public works sector. It was fully eco-designed by the Moissy town council and ECT.
The reason for giving the Chanteloup eco-district a natural space was to make a new place that the town can use for different purposes; local people can use it for their own interests. On the two linked landscaped hills, the Park today makes it possible for people to do sporting and open-air activities. It is a long walking area amongst greenery, offering paths for walks and bike rides, a street-workout zone in conjunction with a local association, a pick-your-own orchard and discovery walks at the pond and in the arboretum.
Zero-cost financing for the local authority. ECT’s business of bringing inert soils from the sites of the construction & public works sector in the south-east of the Paris region paid all the costs of designing and creating the park, and paid for all its landscaping, educational and sports facilities.
Laurent Mogno, chairman of ECT, said « For 18 months, ECT’s crews have worked to bring inert soil to the Arboretum Park, and they’ve worked on its landscaping and sports facilities. That’s what ECT does – we create this kind of development, which is useful to communities and local authorities, by re-using excavated soil. The Arboretum Park is a very fine example. »
In figures and dates:
• 19,550 trees planted
• Nearly 2 miles of routes for walking, cycling, etc, of which 50% are accessible to all
• 18 months of work to create the Arboretum Park
• 22 June 2019: Park officially opened to the public
A park open to all, including families, sportspeople and people with disabilities. As proposed by the town hall and local associations, the Arboretum Park is accessible to all, and proudly aims to get the « Tourisme et Handicap » label. That means providing facilities suitable for this section of the public. Half of the routes are accessible to all, and they make it possible to visit the whole park. The signage, and the access to signage, have been developed specifically with this in mind.
Strong connections with local associations
The links with local sports associations are very important, and this was demonstrated by the sunny opening day last June with activities arranged by the Foulée des Enfants (‘Kids Stride Out’) from the Inisports school, by Moissy-Cramayel Athlétisme, Moissy Musculation, Rando Nature et Loisirs M-C, the Cyclo club of Moissy-Cramayel and the UFOLEP for Seine-et-Marne.
The orchard, the lake and the arboretum enhance the landscape and the walking area
The deliberately ecological nature of these spaces for biodiversity has an educational aspect. The educational side appears in the many interpretative panels to help people explore the various sites and trees in the park. What with the fruit trees in the orchard and the remarkable trees in the arboretum, the park is home to a lot of trees. There are native species typical of the nearby forest of Sénart, such as the pedunculate oak, the alder and the yew; and exotics such as the Japanese pagoda tree and the cedar of Lebanon.
An eco-district enhanced by the Arboretum Park. The eco-district of Chanteloup already contains new homes and an urban farm. There is a plan for the construction of more new homes. The Arboretum Park represents, as a public amenity for shared leisure and sports, a new dimension for those living in Moissy-Cramayel.
