Update: August 2024
An ambitious project to deliver much needed improvements to the Tenterden Recreation Ground. The Town Council recognises the importance of this much-loved park and is committed to delivering improved facilities for Tenterden residents.Planned improvements to the park include new and refurbished play equipment in the children’s play area; a new and improved toddler zone, with nearby picnic and seating area and a skate or pump park with youth hub alongside. Proposed courts for tennis and netball and a MUGA are included in the plans. In addition, the scheme will incorporate a much-needed drainage strategy, alongside improved planting, updated toilet facilities and an enhanced work-zone for maintenance purposes.
What is happening?
- In April, members of the council's Project Management Working Group met with Sport England to seek their feedback on the plans. Feedback received was very positive and suggestions made for amendments which may bring in external funding. Councillors are discussing proposed amendments with the landscape architect.
- Plans have been shared with Ashford Borough Council, to help confirm level of S106 funding available.
- Advice has been sought from a planning consultant, to understand what can be achieved through permitted development.
- The council is discussing with Visty Homes representatives, the feasability of taking on the management of the planned Appledore Road football pitches.
- In April, councillors met with representatives from the Tenterden Football Team, to bring them up to date on proposals and to discuss their potential move to the sports facilities on the Appledore Road once these are up and running.
When will the plans be delivered? The council intends to divide the project into manageable stages through a phased approach. This strategy facilitates careful budgeting, enables independent completion of specific sections, and minimizes disruptions during the renovation. Crucially, this approach will allow the town council to press ahead with improvements. Plans to remove the football pitch and install tennis and netball courts at the far end of the site cannot be delivered until there is suitable alternative provision for Tenterden football teams elsewhere in the town. In the interim period until this is realised, the council can deliver much needed improvements to the remainder of the park.
How much will it cost? The cost in June 2023 was evaluated at £2,849,472. The town council has however recently agreed that details of the scheme and associated costs be reviewed to allow a more affordable scheme to be achieved. Cost savings are achievable by for example, maintaining the children’s play area in its current location, retaining the mound (incorporating and enhancing its role as an existing play feature) and through review of the proposed materials to be used.
Where will the money come from? The funds will principally be drawn from land sales from Tent1a land and S106 funds.
How will the project be achieved? The town council is working with Mark Hanton Studios (landscape architects) and Logic PM (project managers) to bring the plans to fruition. Where possible, improvements will be delivered through permitted development.
When are works expected to start and how long will the works take? Implementation of a phased approach means that some aspects will be delivered earlier than others, with the children’s play areas and youth facilities being ear marked for early delivery. The football pitch will remain in its current location for the foreseeable future with improvements delivered to this area only during the latter phases of implementation and when alternative provision is available for use by Tenterden’s thriving football teams.
Draft Masterplan and Phasing plans of the Recreation Ground are shown below along with a Landscape Sketch of the Play Area. Click on the images, to view them in a new window.
