Stafford Borough Council has today issued an update on the next stage of the Westbridge Park development, almost 3 years after the last consultation took place.
Despite securing funding from the sale of land at Tilling Drive, work on the next phase of Westbridge Park won’t be started in 2021, with early 2022 being announced as the likely start date.
The makeover of the town’s destination park, Westbridge Park, includes proposals for a new multi-use games area, children’s playground, skate park, and outdoor gym as well as improved landscaping, picnic and seating areas, along with a dedicated space for events to take place.
It is the next stage of the project following the opening of the Stone Leisure Centre in 2019 and a new HQ for the town’s Girl Guides at Westbridge Park.
Additional plans to show a view of the new park will be unveiled in the summer and as part of the process, the council will be looking for feedback from local residents and organisations before a final scheme is agreed upon.
Councillor Carolyn Trowbridge, Cabinet Member for Leisure at the Borough Council, said:
“This is great news for young people and families in Stone. We have a tremendous track record in developing fantastic leisure and play facilities in the borough – such as the new leisure centre at Stone – and Westbridge Park will be no exception.
“I am very excited about having a glimpse of how the park will look when these new proposals are unveiled in a few months’ time.”
Councillor Trowbridge stressed that the council would continue to update residents as work developed to ensure people and businesses had accurate information about the plans.
She added:
“Our aim is to produce a destination close to the town centre that local people can be proud of, where families and friends can spend many hours enjoying time together in the open air, while children enjoy great facilities and that is designed to complement its wonderful setting.”
The news will come as a major blow to residents and visitors to the town who have been promised a revised park for many years.
Local resident, Chris Rowley, recently launched a Facebook page to highlight the lack of action in delivering play facilities to the town – Kids WILL play in Stone stating “I have set up this page to hopefully get what the children and parents deserve in Stone, a full up to date recreational play area for everyone to enjoy and with everyone’s help we can all make this happen.”
Details of the consultation process and reports can be found on the Stafford Borough Council website -> https://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/westbridgeparkconsultation
2 comments
Graham
I am disappointed that some-one has gone to the trouble of preparing and adding a plan alongside this article, yet it is meaningless as it is impossible to read or make out any detail.
Jon Cook
Hi Graham, we added the image of the plan to the article but at the footer, there’s the link to the full consultation documents with all of the plan and high-resolution images. Here’s the link to the consultation website with the master plan documents linked in it – https://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/westbridgeparkconsultation