Major investment in Northumberland's green spaces
16 Jan 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Around £300,000 is to be invested in improving five of the county’s parks.
The Council’s Cabinet has agreed spending of over £200,000 towards the total of £287,000 on improvement projects at parks in Blyth, Cramlington, Bedlington and Rothbury over the coming year.
In Ridley Park, Blyth, which has a famous water play area, the feature is going to be totally refurbished at a cost of £25,000. In addition, several pieces of play equipment which are no longer fit for purpose will be removed and replaced.
Also in Blyth, the popular Mermaid Play Area is to get an investment of around £50,000 to replace much of the play equipment which has now reached the end of its serviceable life.
At Alexandra Park in Cramlington the Council is contributing £15,000 towards a £50,000 scheme which will see a community garden installed on the site of the former putting green. The works will see new paths, seating, fencing, picnic tables and planting, and a half pit wheel has already been installed as a central focal feature.
In Bedlington, Gallagher Park, which has seen significant improvements in recent years, will benefit from a new play area to replace the current one which isn’t considered fit for purpose. The Council is providing £56,000 towards the scheme, with the local ward member and Friends of Gallagher Park contributing a further £10,000.
Finally, in Rothbury, the county council has teamed up with the parish council to invest a total of £76,000 in the Riverside Play Area for a complete refurbishment and replacement of play equipment in this popular riverside site, with the parish council then taking on full responsibility for the maintenance of this area in future.
Councillor Glen Sanderson, Cabinet Member for Environment and Local Services, said: “This investment in our green spaces will benefit a lot of people - not just residents but the thousands of visitors who come to our parks and green spaces each year.
“Our parks are focal points for local communities of all ages and we’ve worked closely with parish councils and ward members on a number of these schemes to ensure they’ll have first class facilities for generations to come.”