Here we bring you the news on the Parish Council's plans to re-develop the old tennis courts in the corner of our park.
Latest news:
Students continue their planning
On 14th December, the Landscape Architecture students from Leeds Beckett University made their final presentation of the Design & Community module in Leeds. The presentation was attended by seven Parish Councillors, where the students showed how they had refined and added detail to the two options they had previously created.
This is the revised layout of one option
And this is a revised layout of the other option
Although the students have now finished the module, we are delighted that five of them have agreed to continue being involved in the project with the support of their tutor. We are now working with them to combine the best parts of the two options into a single unified design. Once completed, this will be shared with residents as we move towards obtaining planning permission and seeking funding.
Previous news:
November 2023
On Thursday 2nd November the Landscape Architecture students from Leeds Beckett University presented their intial proposals for garden designs, comprising two options.
This is a pdf of their presentation explaining their considerations
This is a layout of one option
And this is a layout of the other option
Over the next few weeks the students will be doing some more detailed design work around both options which will be shared later in December.
July 2023
The Parish Council is progressing its partnership with Leeds Beckett University for a group of their landscape architecture students to come up with a design. A draft specification has been provided to the University and the students will work on the project during the autumn term. We anticipate there will be some community consultation activity in October, with initial designs presented in November and a final presentation in the New Year.
April 2023
We are now pursuing the possibility of engaging with a local university to create the opportunity for landscape architecture students to deliver a design for the area as part of their design & community module. This approach will have many benefits, not only do the students themselves benefit from the opportunity to be involved in a real-life project, but they will be able to deliver a much greater amount of consultation within the community than we could resource ourselves as a parish council. We would also anticipate that the students will generate a wider range of design ideas than we would obtain from a single landscape architecture contractor…at less cost! If we are successful in establishing this approach, the final designs should be available by January 2024. We would anticipate that the designs will cover the whole of the tennis court, but our focus continues to be on delivering the garden as the priority and in a timely way to provide a lasting commemoration of the Coronation.
January 2023
Thank you to everybody who took part in the consultation about what we should do with the old tennis courts. The response rate was 13%. The most popular option is to have a public garden, with a play/exercise area for older children and outdoor games for all ages also making it into the top three. Given the amount of space available we believe we can accommodate all three of these options, although this will need to be a long-term project over several years. We want to prioritise the public garden, not only because it was the most popular option but also because we feel it could be a fitting way of commemorating the coronation of King Charles. Our plans for the garden are only at a very early stage and we don’t expect to fully deliver them this year, but we will share progress in future newsletters and look at opportunities to involve the community in the creation of what we hope will be a much-valued asset in the village.
October 2022
Many Walton residents will be aware that the Tennis Courts in the corner of the park on School Lane have been disused for a couple of years now. The Parish Council has been considering how to make best use of this space and are keen to learn what people would prefer. A consultation is now being conducted to get the views of residents.
There was a fantastic response when the Parish Council previously asked for suggested uses for the courts and pavilion. We have short-listed below those that we feel are most beneficial and practical. Whatever the outcome, it is likely to require substantial expenditure. Therefore, it is very important that the Parish Council can demonstrate support from residents before seeking funding.
The short-list focuses on the use of the courts and surrounding outdoor space. We anticipate that this will influence what we do with the pavilion building, be that changing rooms and storage for sports, catering facilities for a performance area, or a more general facility for public use, e.g. toilets.
The options are below, with links to third party sites that have more information and/or illustrations:
Multi use sports area with synthetic turf suitable for football, hockey and rugby training
Multi use sports area with macadam surface suitable for basket ball, netball and tennis
Open air performance area (some form of hardstanding/stage/seating areas)
Outdoor games area including boules/petanque and table tennis
Outdoor gym for teenagers and adults
Play/exercise area for older children (something more challenging than existing play area)
Public gardens including a sensory garden