On Friday (7th January), a Court Hey Park stakeholders meeting was gathered to be briefed on the latest developments that are due to start today.
The site offers exciting opportunities not only for the Friends of Court Hey Park but for Mersey Cycle, ourselves, the local residents and users of the park. When it reopens, which is expected sometime in the spring it is expected to transform the way that the park is used, with increased visitors and activities to attract all.
At the moment the Courtyard is going under wraps or more precisely behind closed and locked gates as the building developers move in to secure the site so that work can commence. The works will consist of improvements to the external condition of the Courtyard building and internal renovations, such as new training and conference spaces, toilets as well as general repairs and re-decoration.
Knowsley Council has secured £447,000 of funding to be ploughed into improvement works at the park in readiness for the Courtyard buildings to be transferred over to One Knowsley.
Funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme will be used for low carbon upgrades to the heating, new LED lighting throughout the buildings and solar panels on the roof.
If you are excited by this news and are interested in getting involved then we’re currently recruiting for a Development Officer post for Court Hey Park, you can find out more details here
Cllr Shelley Powell, Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, for Knowsley Council said: “A key priority for Knowsley Council is ensuring the parks and green spaces across the borough provide good facilities and are well maintained for the benefit of all park users.
“The Council’s aspirations for this site include a space for groups and organisations to meet, offering a range of activities that promote social enterprise, community empowerment, and environmental stewardship.
“These improvement works will ensure that One Knowsley can operate from high quality facilities and enable them to fulfil that aim.”
One Knowsley is the borough’s infrastructure organisation for voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise providing the expertise and support to help the sector to start, grow, build resilience and thrive. It provides specialist information, advice and guidance enabling opportunities for collaboration and influence.
Its plans for Court Hey Park include the expansion of their advocacy role to promote the work of the sector by providing space to meet, learn and further build capacity.
Rachael Jones, Chief Executive Officer at One Knowsley, said “We are delighted that these works are getting underway and the improved Courtyard buildings will offer a fantastic space for us not only to deliver the growing aspects of our work but to meet the needs and aspirations of the wider sector we support and act as the trusted voice for.”
If you are a business owner and if you are interested in finding out more about the Cafe opportunity on the site then please email patrick.goodison@oneknowsley.org
It is expected the works will last four months, during which time disruption to park users will be kept to a minimum.
