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Parks, Gardens and Allotments

Outdoor Leisure and Foreshore Services

Outdoor Leisure

Admire the colourful displays of flowers, watch a band play in the park, sit quietly by the river, play safely with your children, walk in the shade of a magnificent avenue of limes, discover secret wildlife in the district's towns or enjoy a game of cricket, football or tennis.

These are just some of the activities you can do in Canterbury City Council's parks and open spaces.

Outdoor Leisure is reponsible for the development of policies, strategies and planned improvements for parks, open spaces and play areas.

Foreshore services

The beautiful coastline of the Canterbury district includes Herne Bay, Whitstable and the surrounding countryside. The 14.5 miles of the North Kent Coastline stretching from Seasalter to Reculver have to be one of the districts major natural assets and attracts a large number of visitors and water sports enthusiasts.

Foreshore services can be accessed at www.canterbury.gov.uk/coast

News

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Fields Challenge

“Four open spaces in the district have successfully been adopted as Queen Elizabeth II Daimond Jubilee Fields.

Hollow Lane in Canterbury, Mariners View in Whitstable, Tankerton Slopes and a new Herne Bay Coastal Park from Reculver to Hampton have all achieved the designation after being nominated by the city council and receiving a total of 146 votes of support from local people – the highest in Kent.

The aim of the initiative is to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee next year. It is led by the national charity Fields in Trust and The Duke of Cambridge is the scheme’s patron. Fields in Trust confirm that the sites that have been adopted will be protected for community and recreational purposes for generations to come as a permanent legacy to mark the diamond jubilee year.

The city council has already held meetings with community groups to talk about projects and activities for next year. Applications for funding from the £10 million pot of money available nationally for Diamond Jubilee Fields will be made in the coming weeks.

The council’s Executive member for the environment, Councillor Rosemary Doyle, said: “It’s great news for the district that we’ve been successful with all four sites we put forward and I’d like to thank everyone who showed their support. To have the most backing in the county is an excellent achievement.

“We’re now looking forward to working with local people to develop ideas at all these locations and putting in a bid for funding.”

To find out more about the benefits of declaring a Queen Elizabeth II Field please visit Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Fields Challenge or for more information on the project, visit www.qe2fields.com or call Ian Cameron-Fleming at the city council on 01227 862458.”

New cycle pedestrian route through Toddlers Cove and Westgate Gardens

Public consultation on city council proposals to provide a new shared use pedestrian/cycle path between Toddlers Cove and Westgate Gardens gets underway on Monday 13th February 2012 and lasts six weeks.

View more information on the route including the proposed plans, frequently asked questions, byelaws etc.

Play Area Improvements

Play areas are a valuable part of a community and are and are used by many children and families.

Play areas at Westmeads Recreation Ground, Whitstable and Thanington Recreation Ground, Canterbury have received a major upgrade this year.

Thanington Recreation Ground play area (adjacent to Thanington Resource Centre, Canterbury) - the play area has been extended and offers a greater range of innovative and exciting equipment for children aged 0 to 5 years

In addition to the existing equipment, new equipment includes:

Extended play space
Zingo multi play unit
Zingo bubble spinner
Zingo Boing springer
Zingo seesaw
Rocking Boat mulit play unit
Musical play equipment (Turbano drums, Percussion posts, Rainwheel, Talktubes, Steel pan)
Scramble net
Birds nest roundabout
Stepping logs
NRG climbing net

An inclusive Orbit roundabout ,suitable for wheelchairs users, will be added shortly.

Westmeads Recreation Ground, Whitstable - the play area now offers improved play facilites for childrens aged 0-18 years. The updgrade focussed on providing challenging equipment for ages 12-18 years.

In addition to the existing equipment, new equipment includes:

Nexus tornado spinner
Nexus Viper giant swing/rocker,
Nexus Freeride surfer/snowboarder
Pirouette
Mini football goals
Trampoline that is suitable for wheelchair users.

A local community garden

Community Gardens are becoming more popular as demand for gardening opprtunities increases. Find out more about a new community garden in Whitstable at Stream Walk

Catering Concessions 2012

Details of catering concessions for open spaces will be available at the end of January 2012. To find out more visit the concessions page.

Westgate Gardens and Toddlers Cove

The Stage One Application to the Heritage Lottery Fund was sucessful. Read all about the proposed projects and feedback from the community consultation. Westgate Gardens and Toddlers Cove Community Consultation

Mariner's View

A new play area, ball court and casual kick around pitch are currently being developed to create a large new area of open space for Whitstable. There will also be semi-natural areas for birds and reptiles, hedgerows and a small woodland, and opportunities for residents to help shape the future management of the open space. Update on Mariner's View, Whitstable

Allotments Strategy

Following consultation with plot holders and local organisations, the Allotments Strategy is now completed and adopted by Canterbury City Council. View the Allotments Strategy.

The Downs

Kent Wildlife Trust are surveying the whole of the Herne Bay Coastaline this summer with help from local volunteers. Three attractive interpretation panels developed by the Herne Bay in Bloom commitee tell the story of The Downs. The Downs, at Herne Bay .

Open Spaces Conference

Whitstable Castle hosted the 2010 Open Space Confernece. 45 community groups were represented to share best practice, debate key issues in their area and bring forward some key ctions. Open Spaces Conference

This page can now be accessed at www.canterbury.gov.uk/openspaces

Parks, Open Spaces and Allotments

Children and Young People

Sports and Recreation

Projects

oxeye daisy

Community Open Space Projects
For more information about projects at Prospect Field, Whitstable, Curtis Wood Park, Herne, Herne Bay Memorial Park and Herne Bay Seafront and The Downs.