Exciting Times for Town Park

The new visitor centre for Telford Town Park has now been approved and work is already underway to prepare the foundations. Spout Farm House has now closed and a temporary building is in place until the new building is open to the public around November 2011. This is the start of the exciting new development in Southwater Square that will become the new heart of Telford with a very attractive entrance to the park.

A new lake will be created with the park beyond and the new look visitors centre. The new building will be carbon neutral in operation and one of very few buildings in the UK to be constructed to “Passivhaus” standards. A bicycle hire station and educational room is being incorporated into the design which we hope will make the visitors centre more popular than ever.

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The Town Park will remain open throughout all of the Southwater redevelopment and also whilst the new centre is built. Some disruption will be inevitable but will be kept to the minimum possible. Pedestrian routes when changed will be indicated with clear signage.

Exciting times for everyone and we look forward to a much improved park especially now that the Big Lottery bid was successful (see below for further details).

Heritage Lottery bid.

The Friends of Telford town Park are pleased to announce that the Lottery bid by Telford & Wrekin Council for £2.1 million pounds has been successful. This means that with the funding being provided by Telford & Wrekin Council there will be over £3 million to be spent on improvements to Telford Town Park. This will include 2 trails, one focussing on Heritage and the other on Ecology. The area around Stirchley Chimney will also be opened up with interpretation boards and the old railway platform that was part of the LNWR Dawley and Stirchley Railway Station, will be partially restored, again with information boards. There will also be a multi use games area (MUGA) for teenagers next to the new Visitor Centre and hopefully a Boules pitch.

Other plans include the provision of both picnic and learning areas for the public and schools alike, to gain knowledge of the Park’s history. The delivery period will be over 5 years so it will not happen ‘overnight’ but work will commence in the Spring of 2011. This work coupled with the new Visitor Centre above the Arena, all part of the Southwater Square enhancement, will see our beautiful Town Park made even better for everyone’s enjoyment.

To learn more about the Town Park, please purchase one of the Friends guides, which at £1.50 represent good value and will help in your enjoyment of the 170 hectares (400 acres) of countryside within the urban area of Telford. They are available from Spout Farm House and in the future from the new Visitor Centre near the Norman Chapel ruins.