Fradley and Streethay Parish Council in Staffordshire has refurbished Streethay Play Park using a £75,000 grant from HS2’s Community and Environment Fund (CEF), replacing equipment that has been installed on the 0.8-acre site for the last two decades.
The play park has been revitalised with modern equipment to cater to a wide range of age groups, including a zip wire, exercise machines and a wheelchair-accessible roundabout. In total, over twenty pieces of new equipment have been installed across the site.
The Parish Council has also established a small woodland habitat on the site complete with bird houses, bug hotels and bat boxes.
Attending the opening of the park, HS2's Engagement & Interface Manager Chris Humphreys said:
“Streethay’s new play park is a fantastic example of HS2’s Community & Environment Fund in action in a location where local residents are disrupted by the construction of HS2. It’s clear the new equipment will provide a place where the community can come together to relax, exercise and play.
"I would like to thank Fradley & Streethay Parish Council for the invitation to see the finished play park and meet with some of the locals who will benefit from this new facility."
Chair of Fradley and Streethay Parish Council, Cllr Katherine Hull said:
“This is a fantastic upgrade to the Streethay Play Park. The new play equipment is a huge improvement and will give children and adults a much better play experience with the all-inclusive and sensory play equipment, zip wire and exercise equipment. We are extremely grateful for the funding that HS2 Ltd has given towards the project and we would like to thank them for this generous funding.
"We would also like to thank Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), HS2’s construction partners, Fradley and Streethay Parish Councillors and officers, Wendy Hollinshead the former Parish Clerk Assistant, the Co-Op at Fradley Sterling Centre for the donation of refreshments towards the Official Opening and everyone else who has helped on this project to make it a reality."
HS2’s Community & Environment Fund (CEF) and Business & Local Economy Fund (BLEF) has provided over £12m funding to over 200 projects across the UK.
Following Parliament’s approval of the next phase of HS2 in February last year, the CEF & BLEF Funds were made available to organisations across the 36-miles of route travelling between Crewe and the West Midlands, and a further £5m was made available.
Both the CEF & BLEF Funds are still welcoming applications, which are independently administered by community charity, Groundwork UK: (https://hs2funds.org.uk/home/community-environment-fund/).
