Exciting plans to provide new and improved indoor and outdoor sports and leisure facilities at Boscawen Park in Truro have received a major boost.

The Boscawen Sport and Recreation Hub has received its first grant payment of £464,251 from the Truro Town Deal after being awarded £5.2-million.

Alan Stanhope, chair of the Truro Town Deal Board, was pleased to see the project making headway.

He said: “We are delighted to see this project moving forward thanks to Town Deal funding.

“Well done to the City Council which has worked extremely hard to develop these plans and I look forward to seeing work start on the new Sport and Recreation Hub in the summer.”

Cllr Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council cabinet member for economy, said: “This is great news for Truro, which secured £23.6 million from the Government’s Town Deal to boost the city’s exciting and ambitious regeneration plans. Boscawen Park is already a popular and attractive part of the city and this project will provide improved facilities to the wider community, making the building a go to destination for Truro.”

Already one of the jewels in Truro’s crown, last year Boscawen Park celebrated the official opening of its new ‘Café in the Park’ and improved tennis facilities. 

This project will build on these improvements with a new multi-use building providing high quality all weather and all year round indoor and outdoor sports and leisure facilities. 

Specific plans include revitalising the park as a ‘Green’ hub for sports activities, with a focus on health and wellbeing for people of all ages and abilities. Improving the sports facilities, including a new all-weather playing pitch and sports hub. Conserving the historic parkland landscape and character, celebrating Truro’s horticultural heritage. Emphasising the park’s green and natural setting by improving access to the riverside pathways, with views to Truro. Revitalising those areas within the park which have been neglected and also address issues of drainage and access. Improving the existing performance space, serving as multifunctional space for informal outdoor activity. Enhancing the existing play space with more green and natural play. Improving sustainable transport connections to the park and promote cycling and walking. Promoting links to the wider area within footpaths and cycleways and the Lighterage Quay Bridge connectivity to Newham and its business community.

The Boscawen Sport and Recreation Hub project is being led by Truro City Council.  

Truro mayor Cllr Carol Swain said: “This is a very exciting project for Truro. Boscawen Park is extremely popular with residents and visitors to the city and we are very proud to be leading on these plans to provide new and improved indoor and outdoor sports and leisure facilities.”

The project will include the new Boscawen Park Sports Hub building, an all-weather 3G sports pitch, works to stabilise the river bank and improvements to the duck pond, including dredging and landscaping works.

The Hub, as well as providing a space for sports activities, is also expected to host community and family events, such as parent and toddler groups, book, film and drama groups, coffee mornings, a senior centre, workshops and training, arts and crafts groups, and conferences and events. 

The new building will be located on land off Malpas Road formerly occupied by the City Council’s parks department horticultural nursery which has been relocated to Idless.

Truro is among 100 towns across the country successful in its bid for funding from the government’s Town Deal. The city was awarded £23.6-million to support the regeneration plans proposed in the Town Investment Plan.

Seven projects have been approved to receive Town Deal Funding in Truro.

Aimed at creating a “Connected River City”, these include the construction of new buildings, including the Sports and Recreation Hub at Boscawen Park, the Hive at Pydar and the new Truro Community Hub. 

The programme also involves exciting plans for transforming Truro Harbour and Lemon Quay, repurposing existing buildings in the city centre through the New Life for City Buildings project, improvements to the Royal Cornwall Museum, and the Green Transport project, which will provide new walking and cycle routes and a bridge to encourage sustainable travel.

Truro City Council is also leading on the New Life for City Buildings project which was formally launched earlier in the year.  

Find out more about Truro Town Deal at www.trurotownfund.com

Part of the government’s plan for Levelling Up the UK economy, the Town Deal Fund aims to regenerate the towns and boost the local economy across the regions. As the local Lead for the programme, Cornwall Council administrates the Fund and supports the governance of the Board working in partnership with stakeholders to deliver strategic investments for regeneration in the town.

Cornwall Council is the lead authority for the county’s Town Deals. It supports the governance role of Truro Town Deal Board and is responsible for administering the fund on its behalf. 

For more information visit www.cornwall.gov.uk/business-trading-and-licences/economic-development/towns-fund