There’s a lot more to the survey than just these headlines but these suggestions feature well up the list of people’s choices for how to improve the park. What was not scored high were such ideas as re-aligning the cycle track, installing a cycle repair station and putting in distance markers.
The full results of the consultation are now on the Council’s website. It’s a detailed report, so plenty to read. It’s well worth noting that the consultation had a very good response with 843 replies which compares very well with the response to many other Council consultations.
The report pinpoints the reasons why people go to Dean Gardens. ‘ The most popular reason for people to go to Dean Gardens with almost half of all respondents walking through it on their way to another destination such as school, shops, work or the station. Cycling through the park, the children’s play area, doing informal exercise and using the park for quiet
relaxation were also popular reasons. Very few respondents use the park for team sports and dog walking and 60 respondents said they don’t visit the park. Respondents could select more than one answer from the list and could also give other reasons.
Other reasons people gave included attending local festivals and events in the park, walking through the park to avoid the busy main road, playing basketball, roller-skating and skateboarding and using the park as part of a longer walking or running route.’
Following on from this the report gives the responses to the questions asked about what improvements they would like to see from a list provided by the Council. From these responses the report lasy out what improvements will start to be made and when. The first improvements will be made this winter and include:
- Bigger compactor style bins
- Upgrade CCTV
- Logs, boulders and mounds
- Free community activities
- Community gardening area
- Community orchard
These will be followed in Spring 2022 by:
- Repair cycle route
- Remove ‘teen’ tower
- New trampoline
- New calisthenics frame
- New cantilever swing
- New gym equipment