Rhyddings Park Lottery Grant

Neil · 18-10-2006, 15:08

Rhyddings Park have been successfull with the first stage of their £1 Million lottery grant.

An award of £50,000 has been made to allow consultants and architects to draw up plans, after consulatation with local residents, for the restoration of the park.

ralph · 18-10-2006, 23:16

What form will the consultation take?

garinda · 19-10-2006, 07:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Rhyddings Park have been successfull with the first stage of their £1 Million lottery grant.

An award of £50,000 has been made to allow consultants and architects to draw up plans, after consulatation with local residents, for the restoration of the park.

Will fifty grand be enough to bring in that lovely Tony Wilson and his fragrant ex-beauty Queen missus Yvette?

entwisi · 19-10-2006, 08:22

Congrats Mate, it will be nice to see it back to its former glory

garinda · 19-10-2006, 08:32

Agreed, congatulations to all concerned, but....

Fifty grand to be allocated for consultation? That's a twentieth of the total budget, if they get it.

I can see the need that it requiress a plan, but spending such a large amount on consultation and architectural plans doesn't mean that will happen.

Not being negative as such, just shocked, or did the grant stipulate that amount had to be spent?

How much does a gardener get?

Neil · 19-10-2006, 09:03

As far as I know the £50,000 does not form part of the £1 million. This grant has been applied for by HBC and not the Friends but I do have a good understanding on how it all works. This first stage will allow HBC to bring in the experts to consult with local residents to find out what we want in the park. They will then draw up plans with costings etc to form the second stage of the bid for approval by the lottery funders. It is a very slow process, it has taken over a year so far and this is not due to HBC but the funding body. They returned the initial bid and recommended HBC re submit it to a newly created scheme. This meant HBC had to rewrite the bid to meet the new critera. They then returned the bid saying the consultancy fees were too high. This was adjusted and re submitted by HBC. It was returned again saying the consultancy fees were now too low. It was finally resubmitted and accepted. You can see the hoops the lottery funder is making HBC jump through.

In fact I am only making assumptions as to what is going on from the news on 107 The Bee yesterday.
I am still waiting for the Council to actually remember that they set up a Friends of Rhyddings Park and officially inform us of this superb news.

Lolly · 19-10-2006, 17:17

This is great news, the park has been seriously lacking for many years.
Its all well and good though restoring it, but if they do get the lottery grant are they going to spend some on security so that we can enjoy the new facilities the park will have to offer for years to come?

Any ideas what they are going to do? I'd like to see a bigger more adventurous playground, that my son can enjoy. it needs some sort of water feature to, like a pond or boating lake (prob not possible though)

Neil · 19-10-2006, 17:22

Ponds cause a whole heap of safety problems so I doubt that would happen.

garinda · 19-10-2006, 17:28

Up until the late sixties the park was locked at night by the park keeper, who lived in Ryhdding's Cottage, next to the Stop and Rest. Woe betide you if you'd scaled the gates. You got chased out, with a boot print on your backside.

There used to be railings, and the gates were locked at sundown. They still do that in a lot of public parks in London.

Sounds as if it would eliminate a lot of today's problems if it was reintroduced.

Neil · 19-10-2006, 17:36

It would be good yes but imagine the cost for railing all the way round.
Why not suggest it at the public consultation.

garinda · 19-10-2006, 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

It would be good yes but imagine the cost for railing all the way round.
Why not suggest it at the public consultation.

I've got them a quote.....fifty thousand pounds!

Neil · 19-10-2006, 17:44

£50k would not cover the railings. Its only to draw up the proposals. I know it might sound a lot to many people buts it isn't really.

garinda · 19-10-2006, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

£50k would not cover the railings. Its only to draw up the proposals. I know it might sound a lot to many people buts it isn't really.

You haven't seen my quote, fifty grand might be enough, as most of the infrastructure is already there.

Fifty grand is a lot. Be it for a report by some poncey consultancy agency, or a pretty artist's image of the proposed development.

Neil · 19-10-2006, 18:15

The next stage will probably take 2 or 3 months and involve a lot of work. Architect's don't work for nothing.

Lolly · 19-10-2006, 21:45

So if they get the full grant when will renovation work start (approx)??
Just that it would be nice to keep up with progress.