New Playground Officially Open

New Playground Officially Open

by | Jun 10, 2024

Photos : Andy Denison, Liam Sowden, Kirsty Griffiths

It felt like the day would never come, but Sunday, 9 June saw the official opening of the new playground at the park. The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung was invited to cut the ribbon and officially open the new play area.

We had a fantastic day, despite the weather, and welcomed lots of families along to join in the fun. There was a cake stall, raffle and face painting along with our information tent where some of our committee were available to discuss upcoming plans for the park.

We also had ice cream and refreshments courtesy of Neros Ices and the local community police also joined us to chat with everyone.

The Lord Mayor said: “It was wonderful to officially open the new playground to the public. The playground will provide many benefits to the neighbourhood and I hope that families from around the area will enjoy exploring and playing on the new equipment for many years to come.”

The playground has been long awaited by the local community and local councillors, residents and the Friends have been campaigning for many years for a safe area for children to play.

In 2021 a petition was signed by more than 1,000 people demanding improvements. The majority of money needed came from Section 106 funds from the developers of the new housing estate at the former Wortley High School Site.

Work eventually commenced in January 2024. You can read more about the construction of the playground here.

Playground Construction

Playground Construction

by | Jun 3, 2024

Back in January, work commenced on the new children’s play area at the park. Since the existing location was deemed to be unsuitable a new location was chosen.

Fences went up around the proposed area and a few nearby trees had some lower branches tripped to allow vehicles on to site.

We had been informed by a local resident that there was a possibility that an air raid shelter may be located around the area, but the exact location wasn’t clear, until excavation works began…

The old WW2 air raid shelter was located. This meant that the entire footprint of the playground needed to shifted to allow for work to continue.

Progress continued and by the end of February most of the foundations were in place and the team were ready to being installing the equipment which meant the park was really starting to take shape.

A few further adjustments were made to the initial layout to make it more accessible for wheelchair users and buggies.

With the support of the Outer West Community Committee we were able to secure additional funding for a wheelchair accessible roundabout.

The playground was finally open to the public at the end of May 2024 – just in time for the half term holidays!

Check out the progress from the beginning on the carousel below.

The full album of Liam’s photos and videos detailing the development of the park can be found here.

Play Area Now Open

Play Area Now Open

by | May 27, 2024

The wait is over!

The new playground at Western Flatts Cliff Park officially opened last week, just in time for the start of the May half-term holidays.

New children's play area showing roundabout and climbing frame

It has been a long wait, and not without a few hiccups along the way, but we are so pleased with the final results.

Since opening, it has been fantastic to see so many people using the facilities, which proves that it was very much needed in the area.

We will be marking the occasion with a picnic at the playground and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday, 9th June which will be attended by the Lord Mayor.

We’d love for you and your family to join us to celebrate; bring along your picnic blankets (or chairs) and some sandwiches and enjoy the day.

 

The Friends will also be there with our fantastic cake stall. We will also have a raffle, face painting and some information on our plans now the playground is complete.

Any money received will go towards future events and projects in the park.