News: Work begins on £5m park restoration

Contractors are due to move into Rotherham's Clifton Park to start the massive £5 million facelift made possible by a £4.5 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant. UCS Civils Ltd has just completed a similar project in Kings Lynn, Norfolk. The first phase of the project will see an exciting new water play area being built together with toilets, a kiosk and a new walled garden as well as other improvements. Tree work will also be carried out the same time after a survey carried out during the design phase identified some trees that need to be pruned or removed due to their condition. This work will also help to prepare sites for construction of the new facilities and restoration of the landscape. Timber from trees in the park is to be recycled to provide high quality building materials for use in the new facilities and elsewhere in the park. The project team is aiming to complete the new water play area, kiosk and toilets - that will replace the existing paddling pool complex as soon as possible, in time for Easter next year. By August it is hoped that the entire project will be completed. A new complex, comprising a multi-purpose educational room, bowling pavilion and toilets, will also be built at the top end of the park adjacent to the existing bowling greens. The programme of work will also include extensive tree planting. Cllr Gerald Smith, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Development Services, highlighted the importance of the project. He said: "The restoration of Clifton Park is one of a handful of such large projects across Britain and is the biggest scheme of its kind in Rotherham for many years. It also marks another important step in the on-going renaissance of the town centre."
Clifton Park website
Rotherham