Crewe's Queens Park playground receives £100k funding for makeover

One of Cheshire East’s most popular parks, Queens Park in Crewe, will receive significant investment after Cheshire East Council successfully applied for a grant from The Landfill Communities Fund.

The £100k project – which will be managed by Cheshire East Council’s wholly-owned environmental services company Ansa – will include the refurbishment of its current playground equipment together with some exciting new additions such as; a heritage train feature, fitness stations and a zip wire.

The project was guided by extensive public research, with the ‘Friends of Queens Park’ facilitating what users wanted to see featured in the park.

The play area was first improved as part of the park restoration that was initially financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2010. Since then, visitor numbers have risen enormously, culminating in an 163 per cent increase during lockdown in 2020. This has brought forward the need for the play area to be refreshed and reinvigorated and to provide even better facilities for the park’s numerous visitors.

Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council’s environment and communities committee, said: “Queens Park enjoys huge numbers of visitors, which means that playground equipment sometimes requires refurbishment and replacement. We’re really pleased to be adding new features, which will enhance people’s enjoyment of Queens Park.

“Local children will continue to enjoy the park without disruption during the school summer break but we very much look forward to this exciting project getting underway after the main holiday period.”

Derek Morgan, chairman of Friends of Queens Park, added: “We are so pleased to hear about the funding for this project, which the Friends have supported. We also raised additional funds to add a much-requested zip wire for the older children, who enjoy visiting Queens Park too.

“We are so very proud of our lovely park and this refurbishment will no doubt provide much pleasure for many of our young users and families for many years to come.”

For more information regarding playgrounds in your area, please visit: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk and enter ‘play areas’ in the search bar.