Two well loved pieces of greenspace are set to be saved from “disposal”, ending a long wait to by the community to find out their fate

A new agreement will see two pocket parks, one just next to Vicarage Road and the other off Ridgway, transferred to Blackrod Town Council.

This comes after fears that greenspaces in the area could have been lost, with one of the two parks listed for disposal in 2019.

Cllr David Grant, interim leader of the Horwich and Blackrod Independents, said: “I am pleased to have been able to bring this transfer offer to the town council, it is now for them to present a business plan to the borough council who will then bring it to the executive cabinet member.

“This should be a formality now it has been agreed to be transferred.”

The handover will be carried out via a community asset transfer agreed between Blackrod Town Council and Bolton Council.

The agreement was reached after a meeting held by elected representatives of both bodies on Tuesday May 24.

Community asset transfers are used to change the ownership of a building or space between public bodies or voluntary groups.

This has come about after Cllr Grant and Horwich and Blackrod Councillor Peter Wright asked for the decision on the parks’ futures to be deferred in 2019 while they made a case to move them into the town council’s control.

But this was significantly delayed by the onset of the Covid-19 crisis the following year, only to be finally brought closer to being realised this May.

Cllr Grant said: “It took longer than expected as the pandemic hit shortly after the deferral and a number of officer changes at Bolton hindered the process, however in a meeting on Tuesday I had it confirmed that subject to a business plan being submitted the deal to transfer the parks was all but a formality.”

Blackrod Town Council will now submit a business plan for the park to be sent to Bolton Council’s executive member for regeneration Cllr Adele Warren after which the process should be complete in a matter of days.