Come and See What's Happening to Cale Park This Year!
You are invited to a public exhibition and consultation event at the David Sharp Centre on Friday 8th April, 3:00pm til 7:00pm, to see and provide feedback on the plans for the development of Cale Park.
Cale Park, formerly Wincanton Recreation Ground, is Wincanton's most central open recreation area. It includes the town's primary play area with equipment designed for young children. The play area at Penn View is the notable alternative, improved in recent years, but it's considerably smaller and less accessible for most.
It's unfortunate, and no secret that locals have long considered the Cale Park play area neglected; left to erode by wear and tear and the seemingly inevitable vandalism. Significant pieces of play equipment removed from time to time in the interests of public safety, with little sign of improvement on the horizon.
But all is not lost! There is a plan afoot, and it's a big one.
The Wincanton Town Council lead Cale Park Working Group has for several years been hatching an abitious plan to refurbish the whole Cale Park area, including the play equipment. The group sentiment has been that the town would benefit more from a large scale project to remodel and improve the park as a whole, than to make continuous minor fixes and improvements over many years.
It has also been considered that a larger scale project would be of greater benefit to more people, and therefore be easier to fundraise for. A prediction which appears to have been proven accurate as the project has recently been awarded almost £100,000 from Viridor Credits; a critical portion of the funding required for its first phase of development.
Phase one is focused on the play area, and will introduce significant new play equipment, along with a brand new footbridge that will cross the river to provide access to the play area from the path between the shelter and the cricket pitch.
Due to the recent fundraising success that came as a wonderful surprise even to those directly involved, the lofty aspirations of the Cale Park Working Group will finally begin to materialise as early as next month. It is hoped most of the work will be complete by the end of the summer.
The group has organised a public exhibition of the plans which have progressed since the previous public consultation back in 2013. Now phase one is actually underway they have identified the need to collect feedback on what should be prioritised for subsequent phases, which will require a great deal more planning and fundraising.
If you have any interest in the development of Cale Park, play area and beyond, please make the time to pop in to the David Sharp Centre (at the oposite end of Cale Park, next to the Scout hut and adjacent to the cemetery) any time between 3:00pm and 7:00pm, where you'll be able to look over the detailed plans. Members of the Cale Park Working Group will be on hand, eager to take your questions and listen to your ideas.
If you can't make it in person, even for just a few minutes, please submit your thoughts and ideas either in the comments below, or on our Facebook page, or pop in to the Community Office.
Comments
Posts: 1
Reply #1 on : Wed April 13, 2016, 11:40:47
Login to comment!