Hope at last

More than two years after the Commonwealth Games finished, we’ve received the news that reinstatement of Perry Park is at last about to commence.

The Council has appointed a contractor to carry out works across the park, which are due to start on Monday 16th September.

We’re advised that the early work is likely to include preparing grass areas so they can be opened back up, and removing the literally hundreds of Heras fence panels and plastic fencing panels which have been up for several years now.

Those of us who are regular users of the park will need to be prepared to see work taking place at several locations at once - it might seem a bit disruptive - but it’s important because the Council faces a financial deadline for completion of works by the end of March 2025.

(And besides, the sooner these works are carried out, the sooner we all get our park back!)

One of the next phases of work will include improvements to the path around Perry Reservoir, which will be very welcome as it’s become increasingly treacherous on the eastern side, especially in winter, due largely to the diversions that were put in place to enable the stadium rebuild ahead of the Games meaning that an unsurfaced path received far more footfall than would normally be expected.

Some of the works which residents have been crying out for, such as replacing the children’s play area, will take a little longer - it’s a shame that the play equipment wasn’t replaced ahead of the school summer holidays - but the project team have created some exemplary play areas elsewhere in the city, and we think it will be worth the wait for a proper job delivered by a team of experts that knows what they’re doing!

So, for a change, we’ll actually look forward to seeing contractors on site on Monday!