WESTBURY Town Councillors have officially voted to adopt Vivash Park from developers, David Wilson Homes, having recently signed the land registry transfer for the recreation space.
The urban park, which was created as part of the lakeside housing development near to the railway station, would usually be given to Wiltshire Council but they offered the park to Westbury Town Council for use by the town. Agreeing to adopt the park, last year town councillors agreed to apply for Local Green Space designation, which would protect the area from housing development and protect the park for years to come.
The recommendation to sign the land registry transfer was agreed at a meeting of the town council on Monday 5th September. The town council’s adoption of the park is currently going through the transfer process and no confirmed transfer date has been given as of yet.
Speaking at the meeting cllr Matt Dean said, “This is a great thing for the council and the town, and I’m really pleased that the park is going to be developed. Of course, moving forward we need to think about how it’s going to be maintained and how we can invest in the park.
“That won’t just be maintenance – we may wish to provide play equipment or a wildlife reserve in the future, but it’s certainly very exciting. We certainly have enough money to do something interesting in that area and I suggest that we as a council take a walk down there soon, to discuss the proposals from the working group and see what our visions are for the area.”
Vivash Park will transfer with more than £320,000 in S106 funding – a fund paid by developers to be used on community infrastructure projects. As the council voted to adopt the park they could use the funds to maintain the park for 15 years and it cannot be put back into their general funds.
The park will be well maintained and made safe and secure, but there will be no major change to the use of the park in the mid-term.
The maintenance for the park will be outsourced for an initial 24 months, during which time the town council will be able to further develop its understanding of managing this green space and undertake the necessary training to enable the council to deliver in-house maintenance (should the town council decide this route).
Vivash Park can be found near Hawkeridge Road/Slag Lane.
