Wolverhampton residents welcome new £800,000 park
Residents in one of Wolverhampton’s most deprived neighbourhoods have given a thumbs up to a new £800,000 park being built near their homes.
The development, which includes a multi-purpose gaming zone, cricket pitch, adult gym equipment and a children’s play area, is taking shape on a large area of unused land off Ward Street and Coningsby Drive in Ettingshall.
Persimmon Homes last year completed the construction of Ettingshall Place – a 460-home estate housing an estimated 2,200 people, with the remainder of the land set aside for community green space.
With work due to be completed by spring – lockdown permitting – families living nearby can hardly contain their excitement at having the new park and all its facilities right on their doorsteps.
Randeep Singh Sagoo, who lives with his family near the park, said: “Being a new dad and buying our first family home, hearing about the new park attracted us to the area even more. It will really bring the community together and help to unite people.
“I can’t wait for the park to open so that my wife and I are able to take our 10-month-old son over there so we can watch him play."
Safer
Mother of three Edna Jardim, who runs her own cake-making business and originally hails from Venezuela, said she was thrilled that her children would finally have somewhere to play close to home.
She said: “I am just so happy and excited about having this park on our estate. It’s so big and makes the whole area look so much nicer along with all the new houses.
“It also feels a lot safer to go out walking as well. I’m especially pleased because I now have somewhere to walk my dog, and my mother – who is 80 – can walk to our house very easily now because she lives nearby."
Teacher Danielle Westwood, who moved to the UK from southern California 11 years ago to marry her partner Chris, from Kingswinford, said she was really pleased to finally have somewhere for the couple’s two young daughters to spend more time outdoors.
“We moved here from an older part of the estate around six years ago. Before that there was really nothing here,” she said.
Excited
“We’d been waiting for this park to happen and I’m so glad it’s finally here. It’s so much nicer now because we can go out walking as a family.
“All the play equipment has been fitted and there are proper pathways for people to walk on. As a family we’re just so excited."
Ettingshall Councillor Beverley Momenabadi (Lab), added: “It’s fantastic to see the park taking shape. I’m so excited to have been able to support this project which will bring such joy to people in the local area. It’s been an amazing journey to see this project go from consultation to reality.
“As I sat on the new swings during a recent visit, I felt hugely proud of what our council has achieved. This is a major boost for Ettingshall and Wolverhampton on the whole,” she said.
