PRESS RELEASE - 25 February 2010

Knyveton Gardens is set for a makeover following a recent survey of around 200 local residents which found that people would like to see a play area for younger children and resurfaced tennis courts that are free to use for all.

Thanks to government funding under the national ‘Playbuilder’ scheme, and contributions through local housing development, we will be delivering the following improvements in Knyveton Gardens by the end of April 2011:

• Create a small children’s play area on the site of the petanque/raised patio area
• Replace the tennis court closest to the café with a ball court for football/basketball
• Resurface two tennis courts and trial free use for a year 
• Look at space to create informal grass areas within the open space

Councillor Anne Filer, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Tourism said: “The ideas and comments collected through the survey helped us to select the most popular ideas for improvements. A children’s play area will make the area more popular for families with young children.  We will be working with local people and their children to develop an area that they can be proud of and enjoy for many years to come.”

In March, two public consultation sessions will be held in Knyveton Gardens to discuss the play area plans further:

• Monday 8 March 3–5pm - local young people are invited to come and tell us what equipment they would like to see in the new play area
• Monday 15 March 4–7pm – the whole community is invited to view the draft play area design based on the young people’s ideas. 

The survey  also  revealed that people would like to see more wild flowers and wildlife in Spencer Gardens. Work is expected to take place to make these improvements over the next couple of years.