Group bids for green’s shoots of recovery
PLANS to turn a disused bowling green into a thriving community garden could be closer to reality after being shortlisted for a funding competition.
Chapel Street Park is one of the oldest parks in Levenshulme but the bowling green has been left to ruin after the bowls group moved to a new base.
Residents in the area are now working together to transform the green into a community space dedicated to vegetable growing, wildlife and wellbeing.
“The bowling green has been derelict for almost ten years now after the bowlers moved to Debdale Park,” Lizzie Meade, chair of Friends of Chapel Street Park, told the M.E.N.
“Since then, it’s got littered and hasn’t been looked after. The council has closed it because they said it cannot open again until it has been made safe.
“We formed the Friends of Chapel Street Park group and suggested that we could look after the space and keep it looking really nice and smart.”
The plans for Chapel Street Park have also now gained national recognition after being one of the ten shortlisted projects to be nominated for Higgidy’s Seeds of Joy competition.
The top three most-voted projects will receive a £5,000 funding boost courtesy of the family food company.
The proposals for the land, which would be named the Blue Bell Green, include community growing spaces, fruit trees, habitats for pond life and high-raised beds that can be accessible to wheelchair users.
The idea is that the space will also be used as a wellbeing hub, inviting local creatives and organisations such as the Buzz Health and Wellbeing service to help reach people who would also benefit from improved green spaces.
“It’s all originated from lockdown really,” Lizzie explains.
“The pandemic has shown us just how many people have started using the local spaces more and the value that green space can have for people.”
You can vote for Chapel Street Park in Higgidy’s Seeds of Joy competition at: higgidy.co.uk/seeds-of-joy/. Voting closes on January 22.