BACKGROUND
Towards the end of 2020 the Parish Council were approached by residents who were keen to see a playground in the village for the local children.
The Parish Council rent the recreation ground at St Andrew’s Close from the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and would need their approval to have play equipment on the field.
Residents surveyed the village to see if there would be support for a playground. At the December 2020 Parish Council meeting residents advised Council they had received 75 replies to their survey, with 73 giving a positive response. Residents obtained initial plans and quotations playground equipment.
Inevitably COVID slowed down progress in early 2021 and there was also a lengthy delay while the Parish Council waited for BCKL&WN to confirm the lease would not alter if the Parish Council went ahead with the project. At the Council meeting in November 2021 the Parish Council resolved to form a working group to develop the plans and to gather feedback on the ideas from local people.
April 2024
We’re thrilled to announce that the playground project has secured full funding. With all the necessary resources in place, we’re excited to share that the installation should be completed by July 2024.
Take a sneak peek at the final equipment design (image below), showcasing a vibrant and engaging space for our community. Please note, the positioning of the zipwire is not correctly depicted in this diagram. The zipwire will be positioned alongside the dyke for enhanced safety and enjoyment, as suggested by your feedback.
We’ll keep you updated as we progress towards the installation phase. Your continued support and enthusiasm for this project are greatly appreciated, and we can’t wait to see the joy it brings to our community.
June 2023
Fundraising Event – Ceilidh Band
Tickets can be purchased on the night or as ‘rewards’ on the Crowdfunder page: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/west-dereham-playground-project
May 2023
Report from Councillor A. Caley:
The fundraising for the play project is going really well, although donations have slowed in the last few weeks. The Crowdfunder appeal (now officially ended but is still open for donations) is at nearly £2000, which we think is a great achievement given it was only open for 10 weeks. We are very pleased with the support! There are 2 more planned fundraising events: the May Fun Day on 20th May, and the Mid Summer Ceilidh on 24th June. We hope both of these will help us to reach our goal of £3000.
Peter and Clare Shropshire recently met with me and James Grummitt to discuss the project, taking a keen interest particularly in the health and safety and risk mitigation aspects, and rightly so. They have said that they will pledge some money towards it once we have reached our community goal of £3000. I’m really pleased to say that Mick George has made a personal donation of £5000 towards this project, which the Clerk has now received, and has also encouraged us to apply for his Community Fund too. We are so grateful for this contribution!
We would still love to see more local businesses follow in Peter and Mick’s footsteps and support this endeavour which we know will enhance the community for many years to come.
The Clerk, Cllr A. Challen and I have also recently had a meeting with a member of the the Community Fund team at the National Lottery regarding an application for £75k. The council is through to the next stage of the grant application and must now submit a more detailed proposal of the project for the panel’s consideration. We hope to submit this within the next couple of months.
We continue to explore other sources of funding, of which the clerk is doing an excellent job with this. We are still working towards the goal of installation next Spring/Summer.
In addition, 3 play equipment quotes have now been received which will be reviewed at the next Working Group meeting.
March 2023
Fundraising Event – A quiz night will be held on Saturday 11th March at 7pm, at West Dereham Village Hall to raise money for the Playground Project. £2 per person, maximum of 6 per team. Previous booking not required. For more information, please contact the Parish Clerk at [email protected]
November 2022
In the Parish Council meeting, held on November 3rd, the playground project was approved.
Please read the minutes for full details.
MAY 2022
The open afternoon, held in April, by the working group was highly successful with 50 people coming to view the plans and show their support for the proposed playground.
The Clerk to the Parish Council prepared a financial report for Council to consider the financial impact of a playground. The report was considered at the May 2022 Council meeting. The full report can be read here
APRIL 2022
Come and see the plans for the proposed playground developed by the working group:
If you cannot make the session the plans are available to view online (see below). Please email any comments or questions to the Clerk:
OPTION 1
OPTION 2
