Heeley Millennium Park – A year of change!

You may have noticed that things are starting to happen in the Millennium Park. Shrub beds are being cleared in readiness for new planting but that’s only a small part of what’s going to change.

Thanks to a large grant from the Big Lottery’s Changing Spaces/Community Places project we have the money to give the park the re-vamp it’s been needing for a while. A large part of the grant will be going on new play and sports features. We will be extending the playground to include the trees at the back for natural play, putting in swings– something people have been asking for a while – and making a picnic areafor grown ups while the kids enjoy themselves. By the climbing rock we’llbe installing some more boulders and changing the look of the whole of that area, making it feel like the Peak District in our own back yard. A new football/basketball area is going in plus a special trail for mountain bikes.

We’re also going to do a lot of the ‘cinderella’ stuff like putting in signage throughout the park – letting people know that it’s run by local people (and not the council) and telling them about all the new facilities that are going in. There’ll be resurfacing of paths that have been worn down over time, replacing of bins; introducing recycling of waste; solar powered lights along paths. On the planting side we’ll be carrying on the theme of the ‘native’ half and the ‘ornamental’ half with a lot of woodland trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants to encourage wildlife and new ornamental planting that
will require less maintenance in the long run but still look as good as ever.

There’ll be plenty of opportunities for people to get involved so look out for
notices of events over the coming months.