Park boss finds key to unlock hidden gems
ACOUNCIL officer has single-handedly created an online parks finder tool to help people discover Hyndburn’s often hidden gems.
Parks development officer Mark Pickup developer the tool, which helps people to discover Hyndburn’s parks, outdoor spaces and walkways, in his spare time.
Mark came up with the idea for the online search tool during his day-to-day work after a chat with local families in Hyndburn’s parks.
“I spoke to a group of parents who were meeting up at a local play area and they had no idea about some of the best places to visit in our borough,” he said.
“The purpose of the online tool is to make sure people are aware about all the great places to explore and also create a sense of pride in just how much we have to offer here.
“It was definitely a labour of love to create. We have about 25 locations in Hyndburn that were included – many of them hidden gems – and co-ordinating this took a lot of time, but I did it as a hobby and enjoyed the process.”
The website works by taking someone’s postcode and converting this to a global position. A list of play area global positions are held on a spreadsheet and the two are compared to provide information about the nearest play area to the postcode and approximate distances to the play areas
in the borough.
Alongside parks and playgrounds, other local features are included on the website such as walkways, bowling greens, ball courts
and local nature reserves.
People can access the tool by visiting the council website and searching ‘parks’ or going to www. hyndburnbc.gov.uk/parks.