Prestwich Lib Dem councillors Mary D’Albert and Tim Pickstone had an update with the Heaton Park management last week. Please note there has been a separate meeting about Parklife, which will report back on separately, and there is going to be a separate meeting about the impact of parking on residential roads near to the park.

Green Flag Awards
Heaton Park has once again been awarded a Green Flag and Green Heritage award, the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces. A ceremony will be held to raise the Green Flag on 11th September. Both the tramway and the beekeepers also received special community green flag awards, as well as a national pollinators award, Bees Kneeds, for the Beekeepers, which is very welcome.

Bee in the City
Visitors will have noticed that there are two of Manchester’s ‘Bee in the City’ bees in Heaton Park. One is near the Dower House and one near the Pavilion cafe. Hopefully both bees will be here for some time. There are also two little bees in the Stables Cafe.

Pay and Display
A number of residents have raised concern about the visibility of signage for disabled parking in the park, following the introduction of Pay and Display parking this year. Because of the heritage nature of the park, there are limitations to the levels of signage and markings, but additional temporary signage has been put in place with a more permanent answer to follow. Other residents have also raised concerns about parking for the Garden Centre. A larger ‘overflow’ car park has now been brought back into use which provides more capacity for people using the Garden Centre.

South Play Area
A new children’s play area is to be constructed near to the lake. This is going to be a ‘woodland play area’ in an area just south of the cafe, near to where the lake path meets the path from the Grand Lodge entrance. Construction is taking place after the summer so the play area can be open in time for next Easter.

Somme 100
Many residents will remember the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme which took place in Heaton Park two years ago. External funding has been secured for a permanent record of the Battle and also the role the Park, and local people, played in that battle. This is going to incorporate many of the tiles which were made for the anniversary at the event. The permanent structure will be in a fairly quiet part of the park (roughly where the path from the Hall gets to the tramway tracks). All being well this will be ready for the 102nd anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Somme in November.

Hall and Orangery
Visitors will have noticed the very extensive work done to the exterior of the Hall and also the attached Orangery. A number of events are now using the Hall (e.g. theatre) and Friends of Heaton Hall undertake monthly tours. The Park will look to see whether an independent operator can help bring the Orangery into regular use, for example as a venue.

Hope this is helpful, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can provide any further information.

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