Improvements made to York’s parks through a new £500,000 fund will include making them more accessible and deprived areas will also be prioritised, senior councillors have said.
Parks with more than 20-year-old play equipment, in need of infrastructure improvements and without Green Flag status are set to be looked at under criteria for allocating the funding.
Cllr Jenny Kent, City of York Council’s Labour environment spokesperson, said the investment was a once in a generation opportunity to improve parks which are hugely important for the city.
Liberal Democrat opposition leader Cllr Nigel Ayre said the funding was welcome but the proposed scoring system would strongly favour two parks in particular, including Hull Road Park.
The framework approved by the council’s executive on Tuesday is set to guide the spending of the fund which is set to pay for improvements over two years.
Council officers are set to look at potential projects over the summer and draw up a list of schemes which is due to go to the executive for approval in September.
A report on the fund stated the improvements would come alongside work on war memorials in parks.
The executive heard officers would also work to clear a backlog of Section 106 contributions from developers secured through the planning process which still need to be spent.
Environment executive member Cllr Kent told the executive Hull Road Park was among those being looked at for improvements.
She added the funding could also be used to install public art and natural play equipment, but replacing ageing play equipment would take priority.
The executive member said: “Some of our equipment hasn’t been touched in 20 years or more, this will help our parks feel safer and more inclusive.
“There’s a drop-off in park use for teenage girls so we want to look and see what we can do to improve access for them and minorities.
“We all know how important spending time outside is, particularly in York which has a large number of terraced houses with little or no outside space, families are using our parks weekly so the quality of them is really important.”
Cllr Ayre said the focus on Hull Road Park followed campaigning from residents and Liberal Democrat activists, though Cllr Kent said it was primarily down to Labour ward councillors’ efforts.
But he added the proposed method of allocating funding could result in only a couple of sites, including Hull Road Park, getting the majority of the funding.
The opposition leader said: “The methodology doesn’t work, we’d expect to see a scoring system that would create a ranking.
“There’s only two parks which don’t have Green Flag status, everything could go towards them.”
The executive heard the criteria would produce numerical scores that would grade each park in order to prioritise where improvements will be made.
Cllr Claire Douglas, leader of the Labour-run council, said improving accessiblity was also an important part of improvement plans.
She spoke in response to concerns raised by disability rights campaigner Flick Williams who called for improvements to ensure parks and their equipment could be accessed by everyone.
Cllr Douglas said: “It’s hugely important that we tackle the accessibility of our parks and their equipment so everyone can enjoy them.”
