Plan to transform ‘deteriorating’ 100-year-old community park set for approval by Wakefield Council
Plans to transform an “underused” community park look set to be approved a century after it was donated to Horbury.
Wakefield Council officers have recommended the scheme, which includes building new sports facilities and play equipment in Green Park be given the go-ahead.
Proposals include building rugby changing rooms, a multi-use games area, outdoor gym equipment and a playground for toddlers.
The scheme also involves installing CCTV cameras and building new car parking spaces, an access ramp and a network of new footpaths.
The land, off Westfield Road, was donated by businessman John Henry Green in 1925 for the benefit of the people of Horbury for use as public playing fields or recreation grounds.
The council agreed a community asset transfer in August last year to allow Horbury Heritage Trust (HHT) to run the park on a 50-year lease.
A planning application said the park has deteriorated in the last 50 years “as pitches have become unplayable and play equipment has been removed.”
The document added: “Council spending has been squeezed and they often do not have access to funds which are open to charities.”
The group already runs the nearby Primrose Hall as a successful community facility.
The project to take the park back into local ownership has also involved a second charity, Horbury Common Lands Trust (HCLT).
HHT plan to manage the park with the support of an annual grant towards running costs from HCLT.
The groups carried out a feasibility study before submitting the plan to see if the park could be turned into facility “suitable for the people of Horbury in the 21st Century.”
The application is to be determined by the council’s planning and highways committee on December 11 after Sport England objected to the loss one of the playing fields at the site.
In response, HHT said the pitch was “not fit for purpose” and the new proposal would make the park “much more usable for a variety of healthy activities.”
Eight members of the public have submitted comments in favour of the plan, along with councillors for the area.
Recommending approval, an officer’s report said: “It is considered that the proposal is acceptable with regards to its impacts on highway safety, crime and security, drainage, visual and residential amenity, and all other matters relevant to the proposal, including the loss of the playing field.”
A planning statement submitted on behalf of the HHT also said: “It is intended that the park will be a place where visitors will enjoy a unique experience.
“The park will have a strong and positive identity that will give the park a new lease of life, and will engender a sense of pride in the local community.”
HHT chair Michael Cudworth previously said: “Green Park is our park, left in trust for the benefit of the people of Horbury.
“It will continue to be underused and undervalued if it does not receive investment, ultimately placing it at long term risk.
“It is vitally important that we revive this fantastic community asset”.
“Whilst some funding is in place, the challenge is massive, but with everybody’s support and patience we believe that we can achieve this in the next one to ten years”