Trafford Council has won £120,000 funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund towards a huge regeneration of Stretford’s historic Longford Park.
The Council received the news that its funding bid for the park had been successful following a meeting of The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s committee for The North of England.
To support the bid, a draft masterplan was prepared in partnership with The Friends of Longford Park and a project stakeholder group, supported by City of Trees and consultants AECOM.
A public consultation event was held earlier this year, together with the launch of an online survey to gather views and opinions.
Made possible by National Lottery players, this funding award will enable the proposals of the multi-million pound project to be developed in greater detail, with further public engagement and events taking place ahead of a second stage bid in 2021.
Key themes for the project are heritage, nature and wellbeing, with proposals including the refurbishment of the stable block, Longford Hall footprint and Pets’ Corner; food growing and biodiversity enhancements; opportunities for training, learning and events; improvements to play and sports facilities and modern multi-media interpretation of the park’s heritage and associations with prominent historical figures such as John and Enriqueta Rylands.
Cllr Liz Patel, Trafford Council Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, said:
It’s great news that this funding has been awarded to Longford Park, rewarding all the effort and commitment shown by the partners involved, especially The Friends of Longford Park. This grant award represents a further boost for Stretford and represents our ‘green and connected’ and ‘health and wellbeing’ corporate priorities in action. We look forward to developing these exciting proposals in more detail with the local community and hopefully securing major, transformative investment for the park as part of the next bid.”
Posted on Wednesday 18th December 2019