Northwood Recreation Ground is an Important Community Asset

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Asset of Community Value

Northwood and Tinkersley Parish Council are proposing to apply to Derbyshire Dales District Council to register Northwood Recreation Ground as an Asset of Community Value and as part of this will provide additional information, some of which is shown below.

Northwood Recreation Ground lies within the Parish of Northwood and Tinkersley and has been a recreation ground for many decades and well over 55 years. It was created when housing was first developed along Northwood Lane. The recreation ground currently encompasses a football pitch, a play area with play equipment, and a wildflower meadow which provides a leisure area for residents to enjoy walking, sitting, undertaking general leisure and social well-being as well as a corridor for wildlife to inhabit or utilise while moving between the moors, river and green spaces. 114 plant species and 318 animal species have been recorded in the recreation ground over the last 7 years.

The Parish Council have ongoing plans for the recreation ground to include further developing the wildflower meadow to include the planting of fruit trees in order that residents may assist in their maintenance and enjoy the produce. It is hoped to involve schools in the area by providing environmental educational projects. There is an intent to improve the play equipment in the medium term by the application for grant aid from various bodies. The area is seen as an important recreation and well-being area for the area and which will be continually improved and promoted. The wildflower meadow and recreation facilities are managed by Northwood and Tinkersley Parish Council and Derbyshire Dales District Council.

The grounds are used for an extensive range of leisure and well-being activities which include football and general sports, children’s play area activities, walking, dog walking, kiting, sledging and snow sports when snow arrives, and the general well-being and enjoyment of the wildflower meadow with its views from the bench provided by the Parish Council in 2023.

The area above the football pitch, and now the wildlife corridor/wildflower meadow, was previously utilised as a cyclo-cross area. An extensive course and track were constructed from the top of the field to nearing the bottom. It was developed during the 1970’s and 80’s by creating large earthworks, embankments and jumps as the course snaked down the hill. Indeed, if you were to walk the area evidence can still be found of the embankment and jumps. This illustrates the long continuing and evolving of the area for the well-being and recreation activities for the residents.

The area has been designated as a formal Recreation Ground in plans included in the current Local Plan of 2017 and all previous Local Plans continuous from the original West Derbyshire Local Plan proposals of 1984 and 1986 Plan. The area is also included in other formal documents such as the official Ordnance Survey maps. This inclusion is to satisfy the leisure and well-being requirements of the local population.

The area is currently utilised for sporting and general leisure, wellbeing activities and a wildlife corridor and will continue to be so in the future.