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You are here: Home > News > Gheluvelt Park Is Set To Benefit From 800k Of Lottery Funding

• Gheluvelt park is set to benefit from £800k of lottery funding

• Date:

  17th November 2008

• Contact:

  Sarah Egerton

• Organisation:

  The Civic Trust

Worcester's Gheluvelt Park, boasting a Green Flag Award for the second year running, is set to benefit from a £803,000 injection of lottery funding.

Worcester City Council has been awarded a development grant of £47,500 to finalise its plans for the park and hopes this will pave the way for a further award in excess of £800,000 to enable the entire £1.4m plan to come to fruition.

Five years ago, the council began a long-term project to refurbish Gheluvelt Park with the aim of making it a first-class open space for the community. Much has been achieved during that time and the council now hopes that the grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, under its ‘Parks for People’ banner will enable the implementation of the final stage of the project.

Cllr Allah Ditta, Cleaner and Greener portfolio holder , said: “This is wonderful news. Parks provide us with much needed breathing space in more ways than one. They allow us to come together and to enjoy a range of activities in a relaxed the environment. Hopefully we can use the development grant to secure the final funding to put the icing on the cake of our redevelopment plan.”

The grant will be used to fund detailed plans for the final phase of regeneration. Broadly speaking, the planned improvements are intended to restore the park’s historic link with the Battle of Gheluvelt by providing an interpretation area focal point, possibly with educational elements. There are also plans to, among other things, reinstate the historic park railings, provide an all new play area and interactive water play, renovate the bandstand, enhance seating in the park and provide more litter bins throughout.

“The award is testimony to all the hard work put into the bid by Worcester City Council officers, our advisers Plinke Landscapes, and also the Friends of Gheluvelt Park without whom the project would not have got this far,” added Cllr Ditta.

The funding for Gheluvelt Park is among the first from the ‘Parks for People’ programme, and is one of only two awards being made in the midlands.

Allen Barnatt, Chairman of the Friends of Gheluvelt Park added: “This is a first class outcome of the HLF bid, made possible by Worcester City Council, Gheluvelt Park Friends and others working together to prepare a package which satisfies the many and diverse requirements of the local community. Although much detailed work remains to be done, it is extremely encouraging to be doing this now while looking towards 2008 when hopefully our park will see the greatest improvements for many years. Congratulations to all involved in the massive job of preparing the bid. It’s been a long process, which has paid off.”