Nottingham City Council wins support for Highfields Park

Nottingham City Council wins support for Highfields Park

The project aims to fully restore the park, build upon its heritage and create a community facility for the 21st century.
  
Development funding of £280,500 has been awarded to help the council progress its plans to apply for a full grant at a later date.

The restoration project, expected to cost over £4.2million in total, will involve the refurbishment and repair of historic buildings on the site including the pavilions and ticket office; the rehabilitation of the lake; new features including adventure golf; vegetation and arboriculture work; and improvements to footpaths and hard surfacing.
 
The Grade II listed Park provides 121 acres of public space alongside the University of Nottingham campus off University Boulevard and features a large boating lake, landscaped gardens and a children’s play area. It was first laid out in 1920 on the initiative of Sir Jesse Boot and fully opened to the public in 1926.

Councillor Dave Trimble, the City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, said: “Nottingham boasts some beautiful public spaces and Highfields Park is one of our most historically important and popular. We’re delighted that thanks to this initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund we can begin the process of restoring the park to its former glory and introducing some new features which will ensure it can continue to be enjoyed by generations of Nottingham people in the decades to come.”

Hilary Silvester, Chair of the Highfield Park User Group, said: “I am absolutely delighted to hear that our Stage One bid has been successful. The council's parks development staff have worked tremendously hard on the project and we are looking forward to equal success in the second stage of the Lottery bid. 

“Highfields is a very special and much-loved park, and the lottery funding will make it even better. I imagine that Jesse Boot, who gave the park to the people of Nottingham, would be just as delighted to see his gift being so much appreciated."

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of HLF, said on behalf of HLF and the Big Lottery Fund: “We’re delighted to be able to provide this much needed support for Highfields Park, when it could not be more needed. Many public parks are really suffering in the current economic climate so this is particularly good news for Nottingham. Parks are important to all of us and add so much to our quality of life. Highfields Park will help to bring the local community together and now, we can help to secure its future.”

Notes to editors
 
This announcement can be followed on Twitter #parksmatter

*A first-round pass means the project meets our criteria for funding and we believe it has potential to deliver high-quality benefits and value for Lottery money. The application was in competition with other supportable projects, so a first-round pass is an endorsement of outline proposals. Having been awarded a first-round pass, the project now has up to two years to submit fully developed proposals to compete for a firm award. On occasion, an applicant with a first round pass will also be awarded development funding towards the development of their scheme.

The Parks for People programme uses Lottery funds to support the regeneration, conservation and increased enjoyment of public parks and cemeteries. The programme aims to improve the local environment and put parks and cemeteries firmly back at the heart of community life. In England the two Lottery funds have been working in partnership from 2006 to deliver a multi-million pound investment in public parks of £150m. Over the period 2006-2013 the Big Lottery Fund has committed up to £92m (in England only) and HLF has committed £140m to public parks across the UK. Go to the programme page for further information.

HLF is continuing to fund public park projects in 2013/14 with an investment of £24m each year. The next closing date for applications is 31 August 2013. The Big Lottery Fund remains committed to working in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in making a success of the Parks for People programme and will allocate £10m in 2013/14.

The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006. Visit the Big Lottery Fund website.

Love Parks Week is taking place this year from 27 July to 4 August 2013. Visit the Love Parks Week website for further details.

Further information

Nottingham City Council Communications and Marketing Dept on 0115 876 3313 or communications@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

If you query is regarding our application portal, please contact our support team.