Residents have their say on £200,000 revamp of Acacia park

The venue on Acacia Avenue, particularly the play area, is enjoyed by many youngsters in the village. So the residents set up a working group to link up with Ashfield District Council’s locality team to come up with a £200,000 development scheme.

Staff at the nearby Acacia Centre and also members of the Acacia Association board have been involved too.

Coun Tim Brown, the council’s portfolio holder for the environment, said: “The community involvement in this project is wonderful to see.

“The new facilities will provide an exciting enhancement to the park, especially considering they have been chosen by local children and young people.”

The work, which started this week, is phase two of the overall project after the completion of a scooter park. The council has contributed £150,000, while a further £50,000 has been secured from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd), who award grants for community projects from funds donated through a special landfill fund. New play and youth equipment, chosen by youngsters themselves, will be installed.

Many of the improvements are being carried out by the landscaping and civil engineering company, Jack Moody. It will start by creating a new network of footpaths, improving entrances and putting in place new benches, bins and signs. The Kirkby-based Land Restoration Services Ltd has been hired to install the play equipment.

There will be some disruption while the work is done, but efforts are being made to give access to residents.