The project

Parc Cefn Onn is a 66.6 acre park outside Cardiff which is noted for its calm, relaxing atmosphere and beauty.

However, the park’s rugged landscape and some of its steeper paths and steps had been inaccessible to many people, including those with limited mobility and families with pushchairs and buggies.

The ‘Into the garden and beyond’ project aimed to:

• improve access and increase footfall, particularly to the Dingle in the upper part of the park
• enhance the visitor facilities in the park
• boost the wellbeing of visitors by making the park easier to get around and allow longer time to be enjoyed outdoors

The organisation

Parc Cefn Onn is one of 137 parks operated by Cardiff Council.

The funding

Cardiff Council was awarded a £454,000 National Lottery grant to carry out works that would allow a wider range of people to be involved in heritage by visiting Parc Cefn Onn.

The results

The work carried out includes:

• adding a new boardwalk to make it easier for more people to get around the park
• upgrading toilets including fully accessible Changing Places toilets
• carrying out conservation work to the Dingle summerhouse
• more car parking spaces for disabled visitors

These improvement works at Parc Cefn Onn mean even more people will be able to enjoy and benefit from the stunning landscapes, parks and natural heritage of our capital city.

Andrew White, Director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales

The improvements appear to be drawing people to the park.

Rosie James, Strategy and Development Manager for Cardiff Parks, Sport and Harbour Authority, said: “People visiting Parc Cefn Onn are extending their use of the park up to the Dingle… this has now risen from 35% to 40% of users accessing that part of the park.”

Evidenced by wear and tear to the areas opened up, the improvement works seem to have made a big impact. However, more research will be done to measure long-term success. As Rosie notes:

“It is difficult to assess how much of the increase in park use is down to the improvements and how much down to changing attitudes post the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with more people wanting to be outdoors again.

“It will be important to get feedback. We will be able to see if the levels of use are sustained and give us some idea of how people’s appreciation of parks has changed over time.”        

Meeting our outcomes

The project is meeting our mandatory outcomes of:

• involving a wider range of people in heritage
• people having greater wellbeing
• the local area being a better place to live, work or visit

Andrew White, Director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, said: “Spending time outdoors is good for our physical and mental health which is why making green spaces more accessible to a wider range of people is crucial.

“These improvement works at Parc Cefn Onn mean even more people will be able to enjoy and benefit from the stunning landscapes, parks and natural heritage of our capital city.”

The future

As part of the project, Cardiff Council is making further improvements to the park by introducing a new four-wheel-drive ‘Tramper’ scheme in partnership with not-for-profit organisation Countryside Mobility Network.

Driven by quiet electric motors, the Trampers are limited to a top-speed of 4mph and will be available for hire on a ‘one-off’ basis or via a low-cost membership plan.

Top tips

Based on their experience with Parc Cefn Onn, Cardiff Council has the following tips for similar projects:

Think outside the box – motorised wheelchairs will allow access to rugged, hilly parts of Parc Cefn On to people with physical disabilities.

Think beyond the sensory garden – the ‘one way in and out’ system introduced to the park makes it much easier for people with sight loss to read information boards.