A Working Party has been set up to take the plans forward and consists of Cllr Brian Smedley (Sedgemoor) Cllr Steve Gill (Somerset) plus parkside residents Jason Roberts, Ben Harvey and Gloria Jackson. This Working Party will meet regularly with Sedgemoor who have agreed to finance an official consultation.
The first meeting of the Working Party will be Wednesday 11th August at 1630 (Bridgwater House). A reportback will be made to the wider community.
Below are the original plans drawn up by the HCA meeting earlier this year;-
- Key points;-
1.Provision of a Childrens Play area;- Play equipment in Mansfield Park was removed some years ago. Could you confirm to us a) What year this was and b)What happened to this equipment. Our members believe it was moved to the Gloucester rd park. There is currently no play equipment on Mansfield Park and the provision of such is a top priority.
2. Provision of a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA);- We are aware that this kind of facility has been provided elsewhere around the District and would like the same on Mansfield Park. Could you confirm a sample cost for such a provision, steps we would need to take to achieve this and any funding that you feel that we could tap into?
3. Upgrade or re-build of Changing Rooms/ Pavilion;- The state of the Changing rooms is a disgrace and a site visit has been organised by James Presdee at 5pm on 16th June. Could you or someone key from your department attend this site visit? Mr Presdee believes the Changing rooms are the responsibility of SDC and the minimum involvement would be to make them fully operational again in line with Health & Safety and Hygiene standards. However, we would also be interested in a possible upgrade of the facility to a Pavilion status and would welcome suggestions from you how to achieve this including funding. In particular we would ask that you investigate the Prince William Trust and how we can achieve access to this , also we would ask for clarification from you regarding the RLT monies available not just currently earmarked for Hamp but also for the Bridgwater Cluster which we may wish to request access to.
4. Immediate lowering of the railings near the current changing rooms;- Whilst the Changing rooms remain, they are being vandalised and climbed upon by some people. Access to the roof could be prevented by a lowering of the immediate railings. Could you investigate this option and advise on it's possibilities and implications?
5. Creation of a seating area – There are currently no seats on the park. Residents and users wish to have some. This could also maybe take the form of a semi circle of boulders. Please advise us on options and costs. It should be pointed out that many of our members have professional skills which could be utilised such as builders – can you advise on the implications of such usage?
6. Creation of fencing- There is inadequate fencing around the parks perimeter but also around the football field itself . This could be very valuable in terms of isolating the pitch and preventing disturbance of the surface and keeping dogs off. A small metre high fence could be erected and possibly bedecked with advertising to pay for it. Can you advise us of the prospects of us achieving such a thing and methods of the same?
7. The urgent insertion of dog fouling bins. There are currently none. Dog fouling is a major issue. It is also apparent that people are travelling from other parts of the town to engage in dog walking on this field. Can you tell us what SDC could do to urgently address this gap?
8. Consideration of a landscaped area involving shrubs and planting generally. Mansfield park is a featureless wilderness and would seriously benefit from a degree of planting. Can you tell us whether this would be permitted and what steps we would have to take to achieve this?
9. Provision of a 5-a-side pitch;- We believe that by moving the main Football pitch to one side we can create adequate side-space to inserts an extra 5-a-side pitch (along with the MUGA). This would attract greater usage of the park and in particular could help re-introduce the local youth team Rhode Lane Wanderers who have been forced off the estate due to lack of adequate provision . Could you advise us on such possibilities and also advise us of any complimentary provision being planned as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme (Blake element)?
10.We would ask that SDC join us as key partner and take the lead in establishing a Mansfield Park Partnership Group to achieve the above.
