A bid by Oldham Borough Council ,
with the support of
Shaw & Crompton Parish Council,
Royton & Crompton Area Committee,
Friends of Dunwood Park
and The Dunwood Community Partnership,
to the Heritage Lottery Fund & The Big Lottery Fund
Below will be the detailed plans for the renovation of the park.
We are waiting for them to be completed and as soon as they are ready we will post them here.
Meanwhile please click here to see the original draft plans.
The Big Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund have each
provisionally allocated £545,000 for the renovation of Dunwood Park.
This means that,
subject to a successful completion of the bid now in preparation, we
will have final confirmation of the award of £1,090,000 in the Spring of
2010.
Oldham Council is also committed to a degree of matched funding for this project which will support the development of the park and its use into the future.
To assist in the completion of the bid a grant of £45,000 has been provided to enable the Oldham Parks Department to commission the appropriate planning, architects drawings, surveys, and community awareness development work which is essential to the success of this bid. This work is now in progress and the completed bid should be with the Lottery Funds some time in October 2009.
Richard Vink, who is in charge of the bid development for The Oldham Parks Dept., says
“Work on the Lottery bid is on-going; my team, the consultants and myself are working well and I'm confident we will hit the submission date with a great document. I won't list eveything we're doing here (it's a lot!) but I'm sure people at the Park will have seen our visits. The architects we have commissioned are Lloyd Evans Prichard who have a good reputation in conservation and indeed HLF work."
The final bid has now been completed and submitted to the Big Lottery and Heritage Lottery Funds
After years of campaigning
we have finally secured the money needed to restore and regenerate our much
loved park and look forward to the time when everyone who has contributed to
this success will be able to enjoy the improved environment and facilities
which this renovation will provide.
The Friends of Dunwood Park are naturally delighted that their efforts throughout
these years have finally borne fruit. Now is the right time for me, as
Chairman, to celebrate and commend to you those countless hours of dedicated
labour, freely given by this group of truly magnificent individuals. They
have experienced disappointment, frustration, even desperation, but
throughout the long process I have known only complete support and selfless
assistance from all. I hope their priceless contribution will be
acknowledged and celebrated when the record of this historic achievement is
written. Without them there would be no future for Dunwood Park.
Dunwood Park is the responsibility of the local Council and it is that same
council which, over the last 5 or so years has worked in partnership with
the Friends of Dunwood Park to secure this funding. Commitments generously
made at the outset have been honoured in the outcome. It is fashionable to
sneer at the efforts of local councils but I will place on record the
consistent and constant support and encouragement which we have received
throughout this process from politicians of every hue. This support has
been translated into a huge effort on the part of the Parks service in
managing and developing the bid to the Big Lottery. This is a highly
professional and detailed process which is the product of many hundreds of
hours of effort and many years of experience. Without this there would be
no future for Dunwood Park.
What then of the future? It was the Friends of Dunwood Park who initiated
the cause of Dunwood Park but it was the community as a whole which has
brought us to success and trusted us to represent them honestly and
impartially throughout this period. However the true measure of our success
will not be in the provision of new and better facilities but rather in the
development of the park as a living community. But let us also acknowledge
that the sorry state of the park, which brought it to near dereliction in
2002, was also the responsibility of that same community. We should never
have allowed it to deteriorate the way it did. And we cannot hide behind the
parks department or Oldham Council. It is our park and we almost let it
die. Our role must now be to help to breathe life into the community of the park.
We have accepted this challenge and many members of the Friends are meeting
with groups and individuals throughout this year to raise awareness of the
potential of the park. But just as before, we cannot do this on our own. We
invite everyone to be part of the future of Dunwood Park.
Michael McGrother
Chairman: Friends of Dunwood Park
The Big Lottery fund rightly demands that the money it allocates is well spent.
It is our responsibility to show how this will be done.
In particular, we must show that the community as a whole both values the park and is committed to its future. This is why we have set up the Dunwood Community Partnership and invite you to play a part in securing this much needed development.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Everyone can make a difference. Join the Dunwood Partnership on line now and add your name to the many hundreds of park users, local residents, schools and businesses who are supporting us in our efforts to achieve this. Don’t miss this chance to secure the future for this priceless community asset.
Vastly improved facilities within the park including new drainage and paths, new pavilion, toilets,
community room/classroom,
interest centre, refreshments, bowling and tennis and other recreational facilities,
improved parkland, better managed woodland pathways and access to these features.
Everyone: individuals, community groups, schools, churches, companies, children and adults.
Every individual or community group which records their support for and commitment to the re-development of Dunwood Park adds weight to the case we must make to the Big Lottery Fund in order to secure the money for the project.
All partners will receive a certificate of partnership and be acknowledged in the Dunwood Park Centenary Website.
All partners will be invited to the Centenary Celebrations and will be acknowledged in the Centenary Dedication. All partners will be offered a link to their website from the Dunwood Park website.
Take a look at the proposed improvements to Dunwood Park and think about how you or your group might make use of these in the future. Then complete the Partnership Commitment.