A QUARRY Bank park could be in line for a major revamp if a £1.5million bid for cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund gets the green light.

Dudley Council is working with the Friends of Stevens Park and community groups including Muddle Together CIC to further the bid for Stevens Park, which has already passed initial stages and been awarded a development grant to progress the second stage bid.

Feasibility plans will have to be developed for the project after which the second stage bid will be submitted in February 2018.

If the scheme is successful at round two – the grant could be used to fund an array of improvements including the restoration of the Whitehouse building on Park Road to include a community cafe and community meeting space.

Stourbridge News:

It would also fund work to the park’s bandstand and entrance features and development of a horticultural training project, heritage interpretation around the area, path improvements, bio-diversity improvements and school and community activities.

Councillor Hilary Bills, Dudley’s cabinet member for environment, said: “We are thrilled that the first stage of our bid has been successful and we will be working closely with the friends and other community groups to progress it further.

"This injection of cash would certainly help us to preserve and restore the much-loved aspects of Stevens Park.”

Quarry Bank councillor Bryan Cotterill said he was "absolutely delighted" the bid can progress to the second stage, adding: "It's good news for Quarry Bank. Praise must go to Mary Sparks - the secretary of the Friends of the Park group; she's really worked very hard on this."

Mrs Sparks said: "It's the culmination of a lot of hard work over a number of years by the Friends of the Park."

Quarry Bank councillor David Sparks, chairman of the Friends group, added: "It's a tribute to what the community can do when people get together. I know the Friends group have made this possible by combining with Muddle Together to achieve what the council could not do on its own.

"It really is a victory for Quarry Bank which has often been neglected by the council."

Stourbridge News:

If it gets the go-ahead – the ambitious park restoration project would be the third of its kind in the borough which has already celebrated major revamp schemes at Stourbridge’s Mary Stevens Park and Dudley’s Priory Park.

Ros Kerslake, Heritage Lottery Fund chief executive, said: “Public parks play a vital role in our health and well-being. With this investment from people who play the National Lottery, there’s real opportunity for a rejuvenated Stevens Park to deliver huge benefits to the whole community.”

For more details on the project click here.