Green group's plea over plan for Rawtenstall park
2:11pm Monday 28th January 2013 in News
By Tyrone Marshall, Reporter
GREEN campaigners have received a grant to help transform a Rawtenstall beauty spot.
Incredible Edible Rossendale (IER) wants to convert a disused animal enclosure in Whitaker Park, which closed in 2011 as part of council cuts, into a family picnic area.
The group, which boasts 180 registered volunteers, has set itself a goal of collecting £4,083 to carry out its plans.
Insurance firm Experian has set the group on its way by donating £2,000 to the scheme. Paul Scott-Bates, chair of IER, said: “The animal enclosure has been closed for a while now and we wanted to do something with it before it became a bit of an eyesore.
“We want to turn it into a family picnic area with some tables, insect boxes and some trees.
“It would complement our existing garden area very well.”
The park is the site where IER created its first community garden, which was described as ‘outstanding’ in last year’s North West In Bloom awards, organised by the Royal Horticultural Society.
IER now needs to raise the rest of the cash, £2,000, to fund the transformation, and it is calling on residents and park users to help out.
Mr Scott-Bates said: “We have joined a website called Spacehive and people can pledge money towards our target, but the money won’t be taken until we reach that target. We’re hoping people will help us so we can go ahead with the project, which will be very good for Rawtenstall.
“If 1,000 people pledged £2 each, or 100 pledged £20, we would be there, so I’m hoping people will be able to help with donations of any size.”
To help out with the scheme visit www.space hive.com/whitakerparkpicnicarea
