Milnrow & Newhey March 2022

LOCAL NEWS
Stanney Brook Park gets new friends
It is not often you get to see projects
like this take their first steps, but on
Saturday last week, Cllr Irene Davidson
and I met with local resident Ben
Johnson. He came with a simple
question: How can we make Stanney
Brook park great? After a decent
bacon butty, a coffee and two hours of
ideas, a plan has been hatched to try
and answer that question.
A ‘Friends of’ group
The park belongs to (and is the
responsibility) of the Council, or to put it
another way, we all own it. This is the case
of most public parks across the country.
ocal people can form a notforprofit
group, usually called “Friends of Stanney
Brook Park” for example as a support
mechanism to raise funds, take action and
look after the park in conjunction with the
Council. And that’s what Ben intends to do.
“I walk through Stanney Brook park with
my young family almost every day. It
has so much potential, and I know many
other people think the same. Parks and
open spaces are the green lungs of our
community, and we need to take care of
them like they are a vital organ!” said Ben.
He is appealing for volunteers to come
forward and to give their time in the first
instance. “Most groups like this usually
have about 6-10 people steering the work,
and a broader membership for anyone
who wants to show their support. The
first steps are to write a constitution and
open a bank account, so we are a legal,
protected and official group
And from there the sky seems to be the
limit. A quick list of ideas has thrown up
a wide range of possible projects to get
stuck into.
Cllr Irene Davidson added: “There is
usually a shopping list of uick fies that
a park needs: a safe modern play area,
benches, bins and be litter free. Working
with the council on these things will be the
first to happen But then come the ideas
So far, Ben has identified the following:
1. Develop the shelter - could this be
a replaced with something more
functional that discourages anti-social
behaviour. Maybe even a bandstand?
2. Open spaces - keeping the green
sections maintained will be vital, we
can do a “deep clean” and get all the
rubbish off the grass and even re-seed
some areas if it’s required.
44
To advertise call 07976 289967 or 07974 434793 or email sales@streetwisemag.co.uk