Newdigate Rec is transformed
A host of dignitaries will gather today for the launch of the new look and much improved Newdigate Recreation Ground at Bedworth Heath.
And to mark the launch families are being invited to come along and join the fun and games with a number of activities organised from 3.30pm until 5.30pm at the rec tomorrow.
The activities include a bouncy castle, face painting, circus skills classes, a parachute game, football, basketball and cricket and refreshments will be available from the community centre.
Plans for the improvements to the rec first got underway in 2004 when through Warwickshire County Council Building Sustainable Neighbourhoods (BSN) commissioned an Environmental Master Plan for Bedworth Heath.
Newdigate Rec was identified as one of the six priority sites for improvement in the area. Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council adopted an Outdoor Play Improvement Programme in 2005 to overhaul the play areas in the borough. Newdigate Rec was identified as being one of the priority sites for improvements. Therefore BSN and NBBC decided to pool their resources to improve the park as a whole.
Improvement works include:
- new play area replacing the old equipment and adding in motifs to the paths leading to it
- new paths built to encourage people to walk round the site more and to allow parents to access the play area more easily
- motorcycle inhibitors installed to try and prevent unwanted use of the site
- soft landscaping works including earth mounds which will be planted up
- the POD for young people will be moved to the other side o f the MUGA
- new lighting columns installed to improve visibility
In the autumn there will be new trees, hedges and grass planted - this cannot be done until then due to planting seasons
Cllr Chris Saint, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, said: “It is only through working closely with the community and establishing their needs that projects like this can come into fruition.
“I’m delighted to see the improvements already in place and the role the county council took to support them. I look forward to the further planting works due to arrive in the autumn.”
Cllr Tony Lloyd, NBBC’s Portfolio Holder for Culture and Recreation, said: “This fantastic new play area is open just in time for the summer holidays. I’m sure children from bedworth Heath will be enjoying the un in Newdigate Rec this summer.”