Wakefield Council’s park rangers service up to full strength

The rangers will be working closely with existing council services and volunteer and friends’ groups and encouraging people to participate in ranger-led activity days.

Wakefield Council created the rangers service after park goers responded to an annual park users survey.

The team will undertake a range of daily and weekly tasks in a number of parks across the district.

Their core tasks will consist of regular inspections, maintenance, horticultural work, and cleaning.

They will also regularly maintain shrub beds, clean ponds or other water features, maintain meadows, clean benches and other furniture, empty bins, and deal with graffiti and minor repairs.

Coun Jack Hemingway, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for climate change and environment, said: “Our friendly team of park rangers are a fantastic addition to our parks team.

“We know that parks and green spaces play an integral part in people’s daily lives and are important to their health and wellbeing. We want to ensure that these parks are well-kept and clean.

“I hope more people will get involved in the ranger-led activities to support the park rangers in creating cleaner, green spaces.”

The council is investing an extra £1.8m in parks and green spaces over the next two years. This is on top of the £900,000 that has been agreed in the annual budget for April 2022 April 2023.