Borough Life Summer 2006: Mesnes attraction
Friends of Mesnes Park's Claire Treacher, left, and Sue Turner, with parks regeneration manager Andrew Bond.
Park’s past is key to its future
She’s The Grand dame of Wigan’s green spaces. A well-groomed Victorian beauty providing a tranquil haven at the heart of a busy borough.
But at 130-years old she’s just about ready for a facelift. It’s a transformation that could see Mesnes Park providing a blueprint for the future of green spaces in our borough by bringing those much-loved Victorian values bang up to date.
Wigan Leisure & Culture Trust’s (WLCT) parks and countryside team has just completed a six-year bid for funding for a multi-million pound project of improvements to Mesnes Park. Now the green team must play the waiting game to see if its council-backed bid for £2m from the Heritage Lottery Fund meets with success.
Working alongside the Friends of Mesnes Park and other community groups, the parks team has come up with a plan for the future of Wigan’s own people’s park.
WLCT parks regeneration manager Andrew Bond explained: “This is a £3.7m scheme of improvements to the park, £2m of which will hopefully come from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The first round will see improvements to the historic park lodge, the cafeteria, the bandstand and the famous Dalton Steps leading up to the cafeteria.
”The initial bid is for a three year improvement plan but we have also drawn up a whole park vision for Mesnes Park which looks at the future over the next 10 years and beyond.”
Plans currently being discussed include bringing the historic but dilapidated park lodge back into public use as office and community space. The long-term vision for Mesnes Park is equally ambitious.
Andrew says: “Plans for Mesnes Park are linked to WLCT's vision of helping to improve the quality of life for everyone by getting them active and involved. We want people to come back to the park and get the most out of it.”
Consideration of other park developments, including the return of the Coalbrookdale Fountain, are underway as part of the whole park vision. If all goes well, the team will know within the next six months whether its bid has been successful.
For more information on Wigan’s parks and open spaces visit Wigan Leisure & Culture Trust’s website - www.wlct.org
Contact the Friends of Mesnes Park chair Kathleen Banks on 01942 740964, or secretary Sue Turner on 01942 247161.