Westfield Park Improvements

We asked for your views on a wide range of improvements to Westfield Park. The potential improvements included:

• Refurbished Toilet facilities – including Changing Places Facility
• Support for a café facility.
• Changing the rose garden to a sensory garden
• Additional benches and accessible picnic tables
• New planting
• Table Tennis table
• Outdoor gym
• Upgrading Lighting
• Installation of CCTV
• Installation of a drinking water fountain

Survey responses 113

General:

How often people visit the park:  Fifty-one percent of respondents said they visit Westfield Park every day,  thirty percent of  respondents visited two to three times per week, twelve percent of respondents visited once a week and five percent respondents less frequently.

Satisfaction levels with the park: Sixty-eight percent of respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied, Seventeen percent of respondents were neither satisfied or dissatisfied,  fifteen percent of respondents were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied and one percent did not answer.

 Support for refurbishing the toilet facilities: Eighty-two percent of respondents supported the refurbishment/upgrade of the toilet facilities, four percent of respondents did not support, and thirteen percent do not know.

Support for a new café: Fifty-one percent of respondents supported a new permanent café, twenty-seven percent support a mobile/pop up café, nineteen percent do not support a new café and four percent did not know.

Support for changing the rose garden to a sensory garden: Thirty  seven percent supported changing to a sensory garden, thirty-five percent supported keeping as a rose garden  with companion planting, twenty-one percent wanted the area to remain as a rose garden and  seven percent did not answer.

Support for new benches and accessible picnic tables: Seventy-three percent of respondents supported were in favour, nineteen percent did not support,  eight percent did not know, and one percent did not answer.

Preferred Planting theme: Fifty percent of respondents said that they would like a mixed planting theme including plants beneficial to wildlife and pollinators, shrubs and grasses, seasonal bulbs, and sensory planting. Thirty-five percent of respondents wanted plants beneficial to wildlife and pollinators. Twenty-seven percent supported seasonal bulbs, nineteen percent sensory planting, thirteen percent ornamental shrubs and grasses and six percent either wanted none of these or did not answer.

Picnic table with chess board: Fifty percent of respondents supported, thirty-six percent did not support, and fourteen percent did not support or did not answer.

Table Tennis table: Fifty-two percent of respondent supported, thirty-three percent did not support, and fifteen percent did not know or did not answer.

 Installation Outdoor Gym: Fifty percent of respondents were in support, forty percent did not support, eight percent did not know, and two percent did not answer.

Gym equipment type of training method: sixty-one percent  preferred a combination of fitness equipment and calisthenics and thirty-nine percent preferred fitness equipment only.

Improving lighting: Seventy-one percent of respondents supported upgrading lighting, eleven percent did not support, and eleven percent did not know or did not answer.

Installation of CCTV: Eighty percent of respondents supported, twelve percent did not support, and eight percent did not know or did not answer.

Installation of a drinking water fountain: Eighty-two percent of respondents supported, twelve percent did  not support, and six percent did not know of did not answer.

Improvements

As a result of the consultation and what you have told us, we will be carrying out improvement works to the park over a period of two years.

 The following work will take place between September 2024 and March 2025:

• New drinking water fountain.
• Improved lighting.
• Additional park benches and picnic tables
• Planting improvements, including additional planting in the rose garden and we will also look at planting new roses.
• In ground no cycling paving slabs

In 2025/26 the remaining works will include:

•  Reconfigured and refurbished toilets and a new Changing Places facility
• CCTV will also be considered at key locations.

Other considerations

Café  - as there was support for a café, we will initially explore whether we can operate a  mobile/pop-up café shared with another nearby park and monitor uptake and demand for this facility.

Outdoor gym, chess table and table tennis – The other parks within the area will be reviewed along with Westfield Park within the next 18 months to look at what facilities are available in neighbouring Parks and where the best locations might be for these activities.