Plans unveiled for lasting tributes to the Queen as councils announce memorial gardens named in honour of late monarch

Following the Queen’s state funeral on Monday, both Gosport and Fareham borough councils have announced that green spaces will be created for members of the public to visit.

Councillor Peter Chegwyn, leader of Gosport Borough Council, told The News about plans to ‘create a lasting memorial in Gosport to the Queen’.

He said: ‘The idea is a memorial garden where all members of the public who want to pay their respects to the Queen will be able to plant a tree or a plant.

‘Something that’s been clear these last few days is how much the Queen meant to all of us and a naval town like Gosport has a special connection to Her Majesty.

‘So many people have been touched and realised how much she meant to us as a town.’

The councillor said that there are several locations being considered as a site for a ‘permanent and long-standing’ memorial garden - including the south side of Walpole Park and Stokes Bay.

Another memorial park will be opened at Solent Airport Daedalus, which is owned by Fareham Borough Council.

Councillor Seán Woodward, executive leader of Fareham Borough Council, said: ‘There will come to Fareham, hopefully next month, a park we have created. It will be named the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Park.

‘It will be fantastic, a huge area of public open space, the most incredible piece of open space.

‘It’s something that we have been planning and creating over the past couple of years - a tribute to our longest serving monarch.

‘We have also, because the Queen was keen on creating a canopy, planted about 20,000 trees, and created two copses of trees in Titchfield. They have all been paid for in public subscriptions.

‘Fareham people are very proud of our monarch and keen to do what we can to remember her.’

Floral tributes left in the city since the Queen's death are now being collected by the council to be turned into compost which will be used to grow a tree in Victoria Park as a permanent memorial.

The city council leader has said that Portsmouth may become home to a statue of the Queen.

SEE ALSO: Impromptu shrines and tributes pop up across Portsmouth

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson said the council had not finalised any detailed arrangements but that opportunities, including a statue and the renaming of public buildings and parks, would be considered.

He said: 'We have nothing specific at the moment but I think there will be a move for cities across the country and that this will probably involve statues.

'We have a lot of statues for men who made contributions to this country but not many of women.

‘Queen Elizabeth deserves to be alongside them.'

Councillor Alex Rennie, leader of Havant Borough Council, said that the council was ‘starting to have thoughts’ about creating a permanent memorial to the Queen.

He said: ‘My ambition would be to have some sort of lasting legacy to the Queen in the borough, but we will be thinking about it in the months ahead, as we come out of national mourning and have more time to reflect on her legacy.’