Exciting new plans released for Stone’s Westbridge Park, take a look at the proposals and provide your feedback.
More than £1.5 million has been set aside for work which is due to go ahead next year after the cabinet at Stafford Borough Council approved spending on the project.
The updated plans can be viewed on the Stafford Borough Council’s Westbridge Park Consultation page and address some of the concerns raised in the previous consultation.
You can click the image at the top of the article to zoom into the plan for more details but notable changes from the previous consultation are the play facilities being brought closer to the front of the park, better anti-social monitoring, much more kerb appeal as well as improved car parking provision for users of the park.
The main aspects of the new Westbridge Park Are:
Play Areas
The plans show two separate play areas, one for toddlers and a more age-appropriate junior play area. These are to placed near the Stafford Road boundary making them easy for families to access them.
Toddler Play
This area will feature low-level play opportunities suitable for younger children. The equipment will include swings, slides, tunnels and bridges.
Junior Play
The park will provide segregated play opportunities for all ages with an exciting and large scale play space for juniors designed to provide opportunities for challenge and development.
Wheeled Sports Area
It’s great to see wheeled sports provision returning to Westbridge Park. The plans include facilities that should cater for most wheeled sports.
A bespoke wheeled sports park will cater for skateboard, scooter and BMX riders of a range of abilities. It will be a concrete park to minimise noise and provide the highest quality riding surface. The park will be designed and constructed by a specialist skate park contractor and will be informed by consultation with local users.
Ball Court/Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA)
An exciting space will be created at the northern end of the canoe club building that can be used for hard surface activities.
A public, open-access space for ball games which will be marked out for 5 a side football and basketball. The areas will have a hard surface to enable all-weather play and be enclosed with fencing.
Teenage Facilities
Older children have been incorporated into the design.
This space will include dynamic items of play offering opportunities for physical challenge alongside spaces to sit and relax. A dedicated seating area will be provided with innovative equipment specifically designed for older children.
Sunken Garden
A new Sunken Garden will replace the existing small playground that sits between M&S Foodhall and Stafford Road.
The design of the new community garden will utilise the sunken position to provide a tranquil space to sit, eat lunch and meet up with friends. A concentric circle design, with raised planters filled with lush planting and incorporated seating will create a feeling of intimacy and reflection, along with having imaginative play value.
Canalside Seating
With the site bordering the Trent and Mersey Canal, the plans recognise the need to increase the connection between the waterway and the park.
The canal towpath access would be improved for pedestrians and cyclists, through enhanced connections into Westbridge Park. New signage will be installed to enhance connectivity to the Town Centre and Crown Meadow with increase seating where people can gather to enjoy the views and activities of the canal.
Events Space
It’s fantastic to see the event space is being set aside in the plans, “The Venue” for the likes of the Stone Festival, travelling fairs and Stone Food and Drink Festival.
Building on the success of Stone’s annual outdoor events, the Events Space could provide enhanced event infrastructure to improve the visitor experience and enable further events to take place at Westbridge Park. The open areas on the park allow for a flexible space to cater for the multiple users of the park.
Football Provision
Westbridge Park will continue to provide two football pitches but we’ve not seen anything in the plans relating to changing rooms, something that teams of been screaming out for on the site.
Outdoor Gym
Respondents to previous consultations highlighted a desire for free to use outdoor gym equipment, something that’s worked well at other parks.
Located alongside the canal to provide a wonderful view the equipment will encourage a full-body workout and provide for a range of abilities and ages including callisthenics opportunities.
Car Parks Scout Hut and Canoe Club
In the cabinet report, it was noted the need to resurface the dirt car park to provide a better maintained and welcoming parking facility.
The new facilities that are being provided at Westbridge Park will attract an increasing number of visitors, some of whom will travel to the park by car. The existing surfaces to the car park are of a temporary nature and will need to be upgraded to accommodate the increased usage and to provide improved parking for users of the park. The council will enhance the car parks on-site to make them clean, safe and easy to use. We will introduce modest charges for the use of the car parks to help ensure that spaces are available for visitors to the park to use. The charges will be at a level that is affordable to encourage people to stay and enjoy the park. Income from the improved car parks and the kiosk will help to pay for the maintenance of the park and its new facilities.
Woodland Area/Natural Play Trail
Many people haven’t explored the area around the grassy pitches and event space. The plans recognise the woodlands around the site and the plans create opportunities to tap into these.
The woodland at the centre of the site will be brought under management and made more accessible so that it can be incorporated within the circular route around the park. A new natural play trail will be created in the small clearings in the wood to provide children an opportunity for imaginative and adventurous play. The trail will include rustic and naturalistic play features, such as stepping logs, balance beams, wood carvings and sculptures.
Wildlife Pond and Picnic Area
At the north of the site is an informal car parking area, that sits in front of the lower meadow. The proposals set out plans to create a new wildlife pond and picnic area.
The existing informal car park will be replaced with a wildlife pond, which will also act as an attenuation basin for excess surface water. A new picnic area will be created to enable park users to enjoy the wildlife.
Meadows
The meadows on the site will add to the natural aspects of the park.
Existing and new habitats including the woodland, meadows and wildlife pond will be protected, created and enhanced. Viewing areas will provide opportunities to enjoy the wildlife and circular surfaced paths to connect the seating and picnic areas will enhance the community and recreational value of the park.
Riverside Seating and Woodland Picnic Area
Flanking the other side of the park is the River Trent, the plans set out new seating and picnic areas for this space.
The site will house a number of seating and picnic areas throughout the park at key points to enable users to watch other activities within the park or simply rest and enjoy the view.
New Building incorporating Public Toilets and Kiosk
The updated design includes a new building that will provide public toilets for users of the park. It will also house a kiosk for the sale of refreshments and provide a base for the Open Space Operatives who monitor the site.
Now the new park masterplan has been revealed, people are asked to share their views as part of a two-week consultation. The survey is available NOW at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/westbridgeparkconsultation – with future timings for the major development to follow and the scheme earmarked for completion in 2023.
Many organisations in the town will be emailed directly for feedback on the proposals and a meeting has been held with local councillors to get their input on the plans.
Stone’s Borough Councillors, (St Michael’s & Stonefield Ward: Ian Fordham, Rob Kenney, Philip Leason
Walton Ward: Mark Green, Jill Hood) issued the following statement to A Little Bit of Stone on the plans release:
Stone’s Borough Councillors welcome yesterday evening’s Cabinet decision to approve the plans for the second phase of development of Westbridge Park and look forward to their ratification by the full Council.
The plans provide the opportunity to establish Westbridge Park as a popular leisure destination for residents and visitors. In conjunction with other recent initiatives, such as the Crown Wharf development, they provide a step change in Stone’s development and will bring considerable benefit to the local economy.
We also note the intention to retain the open spaces used by our local festivals and others and are pleased that the plan safeguards these events next year prior to commencement of the major construction work.
A spokesperson for the Borough Independents said: “These plans are very encouraging and accommodate what has been requested by the various stakeholders. Those involved in the process are to be congratulated and we now look forward to further discussions as the process moves forward”.
The cabinet approved the spending plans for Westbridge Park which is part of a £2.4 million fund for leisure in Stone.
Cabinet Member for Leisure, Councillor Carolyn Trowbridge, urged everyone in the area to have a look at the master plan and share their thoughts before a final decision was made.
“We want to ensure the £1.5m transformation of Westbridge Park continues our excellent track record of improving popular parks in the borough – such as the £400,000 refurbishment of Charnley Road and £435,000 revamp of Holmcroft Park in Stafford recently.
“This will be a first-class destination park which will attract families and children, residents and visitors, old and young, to enjoy the facilities and the surrounds of this park and I want to encourage everyone to have their say.”
The council hopes the huge transformation will also encourage more people using the neighbouring Trent and Mersey Canal for narrowboat holidays to stop and visit the town – with a boost to the local economy.
Councillor Trowbridge continued:
“It is a key element of our overall leisure, tourism and visitor offer for Stone, with ready access to the canal and the town centre, providing accessible walking and cycling routes linking together the town’s key assets and supporting our objective to support and grow the visitor economy as well as supporting local businesses and providing a high-quality outdoor environment designed to enhance the health and wellbeing of residents and visitors alike.
“The park also provides an important space for events, including the annual Food and Drink Festival – and the design incorporates this important space and the existing football provision.”
2 comments
Jane selman
Wow what a brilliant venture. Think it be a good idea if a man made sandpit could be put in toddlers area. They have one at trentham gardens with diggers, pirate ships etc.
John
This is very good news for Stone, but what most people don’t realise, is that Stafford Borough Council are taking money from other areas, that also need new facilities after huge housing developments. For instance Yarnfield have had many new houses built including a huge development of 250 houses for which £157, 620 was generated under the section 106 scheme and only £15,000 has been allocated to be spent in Yarnfield. Shame on you SBC.
With the huge increase in the younger generation, there is an even greater need for more multi use games areas within the village, that these funds are meant to be used for, to mitigate the impact of this 50% increase in the local population.