Friends group's thumbs up to £45k investment at Cleveleys' Jubilee Gardens

A group which has campaigned to improve Jubilee Gardens in Cleveleys has welcomed confirmation of a £45,300 investment project.
Jubilee Gardens in Cleveleys, in a picture believed to date from the 1960sJubilee Gardens in Cleveleys, in a picture believed to date from the 1960s
Jubilee Gardens in Cleveleys, in a picture believed to date from the 1960s

The improvement scheme consists of refurbished entrances from Jubilee Drive, as well as additional seating, new play equipment for older children, a new seaside-themed children’s play area and enhanced planted areas across the site.

After the project was approved by Wyre's Coun Simon Bridge, the portfolio holder for parks and open spaces, the Friends of Jubilee Gardens (Cleveleys) said the plans were just what the park needed.

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The development come after public consultations took place in 2016 and 2018 to gauge local opinion and to inform the design brief for a development masterplan.

Trish Rothwell (left), Peter Rothwell and Ann Kellett of the Friends of Jubilee Gardens (Cleveleys) group, during one of their fundraisers.Trish Rothwell (left), Peter Rothwell and Ann Kellett of the Friends of Jubilee Gardens (Cleveleys) group, during one of their fundraisers.
Trish Rothwell (left), Peter Rothwell and Ann Kellett of the Friends of Jubilee Gardens (Cleveleys) group, during one of their fundraisers.

A council report stated that the existing play area lacked equipment for young children with the current multi use games area and skate park facilities provided limited alternative activities.

Peter Rothwell, secretary of the Friends group, which was formed in 2016, said: "It is great news that the funding for this project has been secured.

"We have worked with the council from the beginning to reach the point we are at now and the two surveys were designed by our group and we walked the streets posting them through people's letterboxes.

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"The park is an important green space for Cleveleys but I think most people will agree it needs facilities more than it has got at this time.

"Apart from this funding, we have been raising our own funds for the past three years to make small improvements, such as buying new benches, plants and planters for Jubilee Gardens.

"We are out there regularly planting, weeding and litter picking. People already comment to us that Jubilee Gardens is looking a lot better."

Jubilee Gardens opened in Cleveleys in 1937 and for many years included conventional children's play amenities such as a slide, two sets of swings, a roundabout, seesaw and even a paddling pool.

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There was also an indoor cafe selling snacks and lolies, a small boating lake and a roofed stage area for shows, including a beauty competition,the Miss Jubilee event, which was held up to the early 199Os.

Following renovation works in 2006 there is now a children's play area, skateboard park and multi use games but since then residents say the park needs to be improved.

Funding for the latest improvements is coming from a £30,000 grant from the Lancashire Environment Fund and a further £5,300 from the Government’s Local Authorities Parks Improvement Funding have been secured.

An additional £10,000 would also be used if a Big Lottery funding bid is successful, but approval will be sought to allow that sum to be allocated from the Council’s Capital Programme if the Lottery bid fails.

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