05 Nov Winchcombe Park

Winchcombe Park

An exciting update on Winchcombe Park from Winchcombe Town Council.

After many years of hard work securing the land, the funding and of course planning permission it’s very exciting to now see the works actually happening on site to construct the new Winchcombe Park.  As many residents will have seen whilst driving along the Greet Road, works have been progressing on the park with multiple items of heavy plant equipment and deliveries bringing in all manner of materials for construction.

The main activities over the past couple of months have been the first phase of earthworks and the installation of the main drainage systems.  Due to environmental requirements, the park has a system where water that has been captured from rainfall is stored and this is then allowed to drain down to the river at a much slower rate.  This helps to prevent flooding by reducing how quickly the water from the park area runs off into the River Isbourne.

Works to build the wheeled sports facility have been coming on well with concreting for the bowls and ramps now showing the foundations of a wonderful facility that will be for all age groups and levels of experience.

With the excitement surrounding the provision of the new wheeled sports area, we have been asked by a number of residents about the design and layout.

We are pleased to confirm that we have managed to obtain the services of Ant Luffman, not only highly respected throughout the industry as a skatepark builder but also a skateboarder himself. Ant brings years of experience, both in designing and building skate parks and wheeled sports areas.  He has used his experience to design a unique facility for Winchcombe that will provide users of all abilities an opportunity to enjoy this provision.  Also, working directly with our park contractors, his direct investment has kept our costs within the overall budget yet still provided a leading facility.  We are all really excited to see it take shape.

The Town Council has also been mindful of some local resident’s concerns in that the 30m – 60m recommended guidance was felt to be too close to the nearest homes.  To address their concerns, and at the recommendation on location from the professionals, we asked the designers to extend the distance from neighbours boundaries to 90m and install a planted bund. This will still provide line of sight and comply with health and safety regulations whilst also providing close access to the front of the site.

In addition, works are now starting on the perimeter footpath and also the MUGA area.

The programme of works remains largely on track despite some delays from the very heavy rain experienced at times over recent weeks.

It is hoped that lost working time can be recovered and a planned opening around Christmas this year will still be achievable.

As you may have heard on the news much of the supply chain for construction is experiencing difficulties at the moment due to the high demand for material, a slowdown in production or problems with transport.  The risk associated with materials has been largely overcome with our main contractor ordering all materials as soon as the contract was awarded and stockpiling on site where necessary.  Fortunately the site offers plenty of storage space which has allowed these materials to be delivered early.

Winchcombe Town Council together with the contractor will need to decide how much of the park we open as some of the landscaping work and newly planted grass, trees and shrubs may not be mature enough to allow pedestrian traffic right at the start.  Currently we are expecting to be able to open the top section of the park along with the walking route but some areas of the landscaping may have to remain off-limits until the spring when a more formal opening ceremony is being planned.

Over the next month, we are expecting to see the kerbs start to define the car park at the top of the site and also the MUGA area.  This will be followed by surfacing work and further landscaping works to bring all the sections of the park together and make it accessible to all.

Cllr R. Parsloe 27th October 2021