‘Over the moon!’ New £34,000 Deeping St Nicholas play park transformation unveiled… with more to come

A £34,000 village play area makeover has been unveiled - and is already proving a hit with youngsters and the young-at-heart.

Less than 12 months after exciting plans to transform four community parks at Deeping St Nicholas and Hop Pole were revealed, stage one has been completed.

St Nicholas Park, situated off Haywain Drive, was opened officially on Wednesday (March 5), although local children have already been taking every opportunity possible to check out the new equipment.

Recently added to the existing junior play area are a climbing frame, zip wire and a football and basketball-friendly ball wall, which is made from wire coated in plastic to minimise rebound noise for nearby houses.

Two benches - one an accessibility bench with wheelchair and pram space at the picnic table - are to be installed, along with two chatter and natter seating areas to encourage residents to pull up a pew and have a conversation with a stranger.

“It’s gone down really well and the residents are really pleased,” said parish council chairperson Deborah Croyle, who has been pushing the project alongside vice-chair Coun Rob Jarvis and Coun Andy Croyle.

“We’ve made these changes as a direct result of listening to what the residents wanted.

“We held a public consultation, trying to come up with what was the perfect compromise between providing extra equipment for the older children whilst still entertaining the younger children, but not going too far so we lose the green space in the park. And I think we’ve achieved that.”

Coun Jarvis - who has been credited as a major driving force behind the plans - was all smiles after seeing a long-held ambition realised.

“It’s always been my pipe dream as my children had nothing,” he explained.

“Ten or 15 years ago the district council put the (existing junior) playground in but the children had been used to playing football in the road or using rusty old equipment at Littleworth Park, so to achieve this with the support of the district, county and parish councils is amazing.”

“To achieve what we’ve set out to do has been amazing and the response has been fantastic. I love it, we’re over the moon with it.”

With youngsters at school during the official opening, some of those who backed the project allowed themselves an opportunity to turn back the clock and try out the equipment.

Lincolnshire county councillor Nigel Pepper - a longtime supporter of the project - was one of the first to test the zip wire.

“It’s great to see it come to fruition and what the parish council has done has been marvellous,” he said.

“And there’s still a lot more to go, which I’m sure will be great.”

Cash for the project has come via an expert fundraiser and local donations.

The soon-to-be-installed benches have been paid for by South Holland district councillors Angela Harrison, Jim Astill and Bryan Alcock, who each donated £1,000 from their ward budget towards the project.

“We wanted to donate to something specific,” said Coun Harrison, who has also worked on the process in her role as parish council clerk.

“The park looks fabulous, they’ve managed to keep all this green space free but provide something for the older children as well as younger children.”

Coun Andy Croyle added that it was ‘great to see it all come to fruition for the benefits of local residents, their children and, in some cases, their children’s children’.

Pete Spooncer, who lives close to the park, was invited to get a ball out of his garage and join in with the official opening.

“I’m sure I’ll have my grandkids over more now as they’ll all want to come over here and play,” he said.

“It’s brilliant, the kids have got to have something better to do, it beats sitting on an iPad all day.”

The other parish parks highlighted for makeovers are Littleworth Park, which can be found in the village centre by the A1175, Hop Pole Park opposite the former Blue Bell pub, and Campain’s Lane Park which can be found on the outskirts of the village close to St Nicholas House.

The Campain’s Lane project is currently on hold due to play equipment being on privately-owned land, but work at Hop Pole is expected to begin within the next two to three months.

Littleworth Park is planned to be the jewel in the crown for the works, including a A multi-use games area (MUGA) - which can be used for five-a-side football, netball, basketball and tennis – as well as swings, slides, zip wires, roundabouts and sensory equipment.

Residents have also been showing their appreciation for the scheme online.

“My litle girls think it’s amazing and it really look the part, and a total contrast to waht was in the park already,” one posted online.

Another added: “We are loving the new play equipment at the park, especially the zip wire.”