Public vote on design for £45,000 park in Newport

The town's Shuker Field will get its new park after public consultation earlier this year saw 144 people vote on four design options for the area.

Funding for the park has come from Section 106 agreements and isn’t set to cost Newport Town Council or Telford & Wrekin Council a penny.

The winning design, option C in the consultation, was submitted by HAGS SMP, and includes seesaws, a climbing wall, two slides, two sets of swings and benches.

It is set to replace the existing junior playground on Shuker Field and it is hoped that the new equipment will be installed in the coming months.

Councillor Lyn Fowler, the town’s mayor, said that a lot of those that voted in the consultation were younger people.

“Sometimes we struggle to get younger people to vote in something like this, but it just goes to show that if you can interest them, they’ll want to get involved,” she said.

“I think it’s great, and I think the option that was chosen looked the best.

“It’s unfortunate that it has missed the summer holidays, but we believe it’s going to be up the next half term.”

Those who voted were invited to visit the town’s Guildhall or Newport Library where designs were on display and could be voted on. There was no online vote.

“It’s fantastic that so many young people took the trouble to go into the Guildhall or the library,” Councillor Fowler said.

“Sophie Alford at Newport Town Council did some great work pushing it and dressing the window to advertise the consultation. She did some really good work and got them engaged.”

While Shuker Fields was most in need of some polish, Councillor Fowler said were also other areas that could use some care. She said: “I was in Victoria Park with my grandchildren, and I’m going to contact Telford & Wrekin about it. It could use a little TLC.

“Overall, the fact that they’re going to all this trouble for Shuker Field is good. There’s not a lot of places for kids to go.

“They’ve closed down the small parks on Wrekin Avenue and Longford Road.

“The fact they’re redoing a big area is fantastic.”

The public consultation ran until August 14, with the result being announced last week.

The top four designs were picked from a number of possible options before members of the public were given the chance to vote.

The consultation was run by Telford & Wrekin Council and Newport Town Council.