Work set to start on park’s £3.4m revamp

WORK is due to start this month on the £3.4 million restoration of Kingswood Park.

The project to improve facilities at the 90-year-old park has been made possible thanks to a successful application for a £2.6 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Now the community group Friends of Kingswood Park and South Gloucestershire Council are ready to move forward with the scheme, which will include an improved play area, a performance space and new centrally located accessible toilets with a Changing Places facility for people with severe physical disabilities. Accessibility will be improved through the installation of new ramps and a new ‘missing link’ footpath to create a full circuit of the park. Signs will be improved, and walls, gates and railings and other heritage features restored. Paths will be resurfaced and fruit trees and “wildlife-friendly” native trees and hedges planted.

A three-year programme of community events and activities will be funded to allow people to learn about the park’s heritage and improve their well-being.

The Friends of Kingswood Park held a special general meeting on April 16, where details of the proposals were outlined. The voluntary group is keen to recruit more community members to get involved with the restoration.
A South Gloucestershire Council spokesperson said: “The project team has now been recruited ready to start bringing the Kingswood Park enhancement project to life, with work due to start in May.

“There will be lots of opportunities for members of the public to get involved in activities planned to engage the community, and to help influence designs for the play area and landscaping. This is an exciting opportunity to get involved in this significant moment in the history of Kingswood Park.”

Anyone interested in helping should contact communityspaces@southglos.gov.uk

For more information on the restoration project visit tinyurl.com/yc7dky5v