Cllr Helen Williams is the Labour councillor for Mill Hill, Deal. She has been pushing DDC to get something done about the sad depleted play park and green area in Cowdray Square, since she was elected in May 2019.
Cllr Williams persuaded the community development team at DDC to take this on as a project. They organised an online survey for local residents, and held a community open day at the playpark., the aim being to find out what local people wanted to see here.
The results of this survey can be seen in the poster below – locals wanted a new playpark, a dog exercising area, trees, benches, a community garden.
Some COVID funding became suddenly available from KCC in December, specifically for parks and play areas. Some of this DDC proposed for Connaught Park, Dover for upgrading the tennis courts, and a big lump was proposed for Cowdray square project as it was backed by the survey demonstrating demand for this. DDC were allocated money on the condition that it was spent by 31 March 2022. Hurriedly writing off to playground suppliers for designs and equipment that could be installed within the time limit, officers and both ward councillors chose a supplier and a design… and with permission to install in mid-April, the contract has been signed. So, watch this space in spring and summer. Wonderful news for Mill Hill, and about time we had some good local news.
