Dear Residents Our 2019 newsletter will bring you up-to-date with what has been achieved in Westpark over the past year and provide information about how you can get involved.
Get involved with Friends of Westpark Friends of Westpark was established by residents as a way of discussing important issues related to the park, including the levy, park events, new projects and the running of the park. If you would like to have a say about what the levy is used for and are keen to make a difference to where you live, come along to a Friends meeting. Our next meeting is January 17th at Westpark Academy at 6:30pm unless notified otherwise on the Friends of Westpark website or Facebook page (see Contact us).
Changes afoot 2019 sees a major change on the horizon with the existing Steering Group, a partnership between the Council, the Friends of Westpark Group, County Durham Community Foundation and Bussey & Armstrong, setting up a formal Trust to be known as the Westpark Levy Trust. The Westpark Levy Trust will put the park on an even better footing, safeguarding the future by ensuring the people responsible for making key decisions are representative of the community and have the expertise required to implement Westpark’s management plan. It will also ensure the levy funds are used efficiently and effectively. The Trust will include several members of the existing Steering Group and will recruit new members from the locality as well as experts on park and green space issues such as nature conservation, community arts, events management and active recreation. We will also look to attract others with a focus on finance and fund raising. Once established, the new Trust will reinvigorate Westpark’s exciting annual activities programme and get to work discussing new initiatives and their implementation. It will manage issues related to letting contracts which oversees the physical management of the park land and levy collection. All this is to be in planned to be in place by 1st April 2019. We will provide updates on the Facebook page and website, so please keep an eye on these developments over the coming months.
Park news & improvements
The funds allocated for the paths have allowed for some 400 metres of the path network to be resurfaced with golden gravel top dressing.
Improvements to the bike track have seen three new tarmac berms created for the 4x track, making this facility even more fun for its two-wheel heroes.
The park’s 40,000 trees are being thinned to allow them to fill out and become stronger mature trees.
The perennial wild flower meadows continue to mature with an increasing number of butterflies, moths, birds and a wide range of important invertebrates making use of the rich diversity of plant species. Next year annual wild flowers will be planted to bring new colour to the park.
The new grass cutting robot has done an excellent job scalping the edges of the woodlands and getting on top of some of the wilder areas.
For the fourth time, Westpark is among a recordbreaking 1,883 UK parks and green spaces to receive a prestigious Green Flag Award – the mark of a quality park or green space.
Events
On May 8, Brian Wood lead an evening walk at Westpark along the old railway line recording flora and fauna.
In April numerous bags of rubbish were collected from the Westpark pond and play area during an organised litter pick.
St. Teresa’s Hospice held their annual Santa Run on the 2nd December.
To celebrate National Tree Week, on the 30th November 20 new fruit trees – plum, apple, pear and cherry – were planted in the orchard.
If you have ideas for events that you would like to take place on Westpark, please let the Friends of Westpark or the Park Ranger know. Contact details can be found at the end of this newsletter.
Bussey & Armstrong news
2018 was a busy year for Bussey & Armstrong! It saw the completion of the Westpark Village Centre, the opening of the Aldi and M&S Food stores and highways improvements to help traffic flow along John Fowler Way and the junction with West Auckland Road. A further access road through the housing development at Jeremiah Drive with pedestrian and cycle links through Winding Way will link the village centre to Collingsway and Edward Pease Way during 2019.
Completion of the village centre and the final section of the Village Green included the Zero Point. Designed as the focal centre of the development, it uses materials that reflect the sculptures and artwork within Westpark. This section, along with those completed in 2016/17 will be adopted as public open space by Darlington Council and provide a safe, off road route between the village centre and Westpark Garden Village to the north of Edward Pease Way. We’re also very excited that planning permission has been granted for the Westpark Garden Village development comprising around 1,200 new homes, parkland, open space, and land for sports pitches and schools. Development will begin with the construction of a new link road between Edward Pease Way and Newton Lane. Further improvements to Newton Lane are planned for completion in 2019 and will provide safe pedestrian, cycle and bus routes. Further details of these plans are available at www.busseyarmstrong.co.uk
Contact us Even if you can’t join us in for the Friends meeting in January, there are three more opportunities to come along and have your say: April 18th July 18th October 24th All meetings will be held at 6:30pm at Westpark Academy unless otherwise notified. Information can be found on the following sites or by getting in touch with the contacts listed below: Website:
www.friendsofwestpark.com
Twitter:
@westparktweets
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/WestParkDarlington/
Notice board: Outside Tea With Alice Pippa Smalling, Park Ranger: pippa.smaling@darlington.gov.uk, 01325 406 719 Rob George, Park Coordinator: robert.george.gc@gmail.com, 07500 090 384 If you would like to be on the mailing list for news and future events please send an email to info@westparkdarlington.org.uk We hope to see you soon at a Friends’ meeting or at an upcoming event! With best wishes, The Friends of Westpark
N.B. Special thanks are due to Peter Giroux for capturing the beauty of Westpark in his photographs. To see more of his images of the park, visit the Friends of Westpark Facebook page.