Newcastle City Council arranged a public consultation event at Trinity Church Gosforth on Monday 18 June 2018 at 7pm to discuss the proposed plans for areas of Gosforth Central Park.
There was little advanced notice of the meeting, with publicity of it only appearing shortly beforehand – and the evening of the meeting clashed with the England v Tunisia football match.
However according to the City Council press release you can submit your views until 2 July 2018. Please see details below.
The following news release has been issued by Newcastle City Council:
“The joint consultation is between the City Council and Gosforth Central Park Tennis (GCPT), who are run by James Lloyd and Sean Damer.
GCPT successfully submitted their initial ideas through an open “Expressions of Interest” in the summer of 2016 with this latest consultation feeding back to the local community their plans for the site.
The proposals look at the existing tennis and basketball courts, the former ladies bowling club green and The Bulman Club Community Association building.
The City Council, GCPT and the Friends of Gosforth Central Park have been attending regular meetings to help develop a proposal that will benefit all users of the park.
Here are some examples of the proposal ideas:
- Refurbishment of the existing tennis courts and basketball area
- Provision of floodlights for the courts
- Free access to the tennis courts and basketball areas to be retained (no membership fees)
- Varied tennis coaching programme to be offered to the wider community
- A potential events space on the former bowling green site
- A proposed café in the Bulman Club Community Association building (monies from the café will be fed back into the project)
Sean Damer, Gosforth Central Park Tennis (GCPT), said: “We’ve taken on board the welcomed reactions and feedback from local people about our journey so far, and have developed a plan for Gosforth Central Park that will hopefully appeal to people of all ages.
“We’ve put together a public consultation which will give the local community a chance to ask some further questions and have another look at the plans. Our real hope is to try and build upon the passion people hold for Gosforth Central Park adding to its popularity and profile as a destination park in the city. We aim to help raise funds for the Friends of…and to provide an environment that everyone is happy with, giving people aspiration to spend more time in their local park.”
Cllr Kim McGuinness, cabinet member for culture, sport and public health at Newcastle City Council, said: “Gosforth Central Park is a well-loved green space that is used in a variety of different ways by local residents and visitors to Newcastle. Our parks are some of the city’s greatest community assets and we are always keen to see them being used in a positive way.
“We appreciate that something needs to be done to breathe new life back into the courts and the former bowling green at Gosforth Central Park, which is why we’re working closely with the team at Gosforth Central Park Tennis to help collate the ideas and feedback from the public about a park that is at the heart of the local community. The park requires investment through time, energy, ideas and funding, and we want to see this stunning green space thrive and prosper.
“It’s important that the proposals not only address the issues of health and well-being by providing resources that can benefit everyone but also utilises the beautiful park environment.”
The public event takes place at Trinity Church on Monday 18th June from 7pm, and for those people who are not able to attend the event, there will be information boards at Gosforth Library featuring the plans. These boards will be visible until Monday 2nd July, which is when the consultation will close.
The building containing the library is open Monday to Friday from 9am-4pm and on Saturday between 10am-2pm.
A special feedback email address has been set up for people to send through their thoughts gosforthcentralpark@gmail.com ”
The above news release was issued by Newcastle City Council and included on the Newcastle City Council website. It has been included here for information and does not necessarily represent the views of High West Jesmond Residents’ Association.