Park scheme rises from ashes of arson

Boston Spa Parish Council announced this week that contractors Brambledown Landscape Services Ltd will start on Phase One at Stables Lane in the village on June 18 and are expected to be finished by the end of July.

Coun Kevin Alderson explained: “The Stables Lane Playing Field is near the centre of Boston Spa village but has remained as a simple open field for many years, with occasional occupation by a local football team.

“This came to an end when the changing rooms were burned down by vandals and the field remained unused apart from the annual Village Gala event.

“Given this background and some insurance money funding, the parish council decided to take action and the Stables Lane Development Project was born.”

He added: “The Project has a simple vision - to create a community recreational space that supports and promotes health, wellbeing and social interaction.”

After help with designs by charity Groundworks, Phase one will include a wheelchair and buggy friendly perimeter path with seating and outdoor gym equipment, picnic and barbeque area and children’s play area for young children with disability access.

After consultation with residents, other features incorporated in Phase One of the Stables Lane project were planned.

Two junior football pitches will be provided, maintaining the playing field heritage of the site and a performance area created for community events.

And to help the environment, a Nature Conservation Area will be fenced off to ensure good habitats for numerous plants, animals and bugs.

“Additional landscaping will be done to add small mounds and more shape to the look of the field as a whole,” added Coun Alderson.

“Finally, additional trees will also be planted in the autumn following the initial work, spring being the wrong time of year to plant mature trees.”

Beyond this Phase One activity, future additions to the field will include improved car parking, an entrance plaza, quiet seating area and multi-user games area for teenagers.

Coun Alderson added: “Alongside all of this physical work, the parish council is committed to working with the adjacent primary school, St Mary’s, and the developers of building plots to the west of the field, in order to add to the number of entrances to the Stables Lane site.

“This is with a view to encouraging much more through traffic of people using Stables Lane as a route to get across the village in a pleasant and restful environment away from the traffic on the High Street and surrounding roads.

“The ultimate aim being to get access to the site from at least all four corners and open it to much greater local use by the community as a whole.

“Through all of these plans and the initial Phase One work in particular the parish council believes that it will go a long way to meeting the original vision for the Project to deliver a great new community resource for all the residents of Boston Spa and visitors to the village.”