Public Places
“The more that villages in the UK unite in pursuit of their own ambitions to create true community sports and recreational provision, the more that the Olympic legacy dream will come true”
others include SITA Trust, Sport England, London Victoria (insurance), The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, The London Marathon Charitable Trust, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Dundas & Wilson.
Ashton Hayes fought off strong competition from fellow shortlisted sites - Queen Elizabeth Park View Playing Fields in Fylde and Lordship Recreation Ground in Haringey, London.
The history of the community’s desire to seek adequate green space predates the QEII initiative by some years, and it was through the hard work of committed residents that first set the wheels in motion to acquire the appropriate land. “The idea of having another go at getting a recreation ground got a new lease of life when I became a Chester City Councillor in 2006,” explains Andrew Garman, founder trustee and former chairman of the group that now runs QEII Field Ashton Hayes. “I and other interested parties came
together to look into the possibilities of acquiring land for recreation in the village,” adds Andrew, who retired from the pharmaceutical industry to move into local politics.
“In the 1960s and 70s, the villages
around the county town of Chester underwent rapid expansion, but there was little thought by town planners to build new areas for recreation,” he explains. Andrew later joined forces with other
like-minded parents, when his children were still young, to construct a small play area in the village behind the church hall. It offered villagers minor provision, but didn’t have any major impact, or solve the need for adequate green space for wider sport and recreation. Once the decision was taken to progress seriously, the plan was to seek appropriate land. A local landowner was approached, who was sympathetic to the cause, and the trustees were able to acquire an option-to-buy agreement, which they could take up at a later date.
A time limit was set on the right to
purchase and, in the end, it went to the wire - the team only managing to raise enough money a few days before the window of opportunity closed. Ashton Hayes received a £25,000 grant
from SITA Trust as part of their £1m Queen Elizabeth II Fields Fund, alongside other funding sources, acquired previously, which helped transform farmland into a prime recreational site. The Liberal Democrat run Cheshire
West and Chester Council (then Chester City Council) were pivotal in securing the land, committing £45,000 towards the cost of the purchase. For the land purchase, Ashton Hayes
Parish Council contributed £26,000, Section 106 funds of £6,534, local sources and fund raising was about £8,000. The balance of £22,000 came from various pots at Cheshire West and Chester council.
Due to the field’s proximity to a landfill site, WREN gave £50,000 for playground provision, which has drawn a strong
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