Winter works round off year of progress at Brooklands

Released: Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Work to brighten up Worthing's Brooklands continues with contractors ensuring the lake at the heart of the popular park is fighting fit for the winter months.

Freezing temperatures and high winds have not halted progress on carrying the latest round of improvements to the Worthing Borough Council-owned open space.

Contractors returned to park in Brighton Road last week to plant some of the islands and carry out essential maintenance, which required the temporary lowering of water levels.

Teams have also used the time to tend to some of the vegetation and rebuild a section of the Teville Stream bank to combat potential erosion.

It is the culmination of a year of progress at the park, which has seen environmental works completed at the lake, a new boardwalk installed and a wider masterplan for the whole park published after input from more than 800 residents.

Ben Sharp, of contractors Five Rivers, said:

“The Teville stream is looking fantastic, it's really taken well to our earlier works.”

“Some people may think that it's overgrown, but this is as it was intended. It's like this to provide a habitat for nature and it's doing this really well.”

“For the work on the banks we are using a soft engineering solution which involves building up geotextile bags to mould the shape of a normal riverbank. We will then landscape and seed it so it should look like a lovely riverbank again in the near future.”

“We've also been planting on some of the islands. These will still look quite small at the moment as you have to give them a chance to establish. Some of them have been damaged so we will be back in Spring to replant.”

The masterplan was revealed in October with the Council revealing its ambition to turn the space into a science adventure park.

Since then, work has been ongoing to draw up detailed proposals, go out to tender to appoint contractors and secure funding to pay for a list of features. An update on this is due in the New Year.

Councillor Edward Crouch, Worthing Borough Council's Executive Member for Digital & Environmental Services, said:

“It has been a year of real progress at Brooklands.”

“I want to thank once again the excellent team at Five Rivers who have really transformed the lake, turning it into a fantastic place for wildlife to thrive.”

“I'm confident that 2019 will be just as exciting as we push on with our wider ambition to ensure Brooklands is a regional destination for people of all ages.”

Video: Winter works round off year of progress at Brooklands

Photo: Contractors working on Brooklands Lake for returned to the site last week

Photo: Teams for Five Rivers reprofiled some of the bank at the Teville Stream as part of the Brooklands project

Photo: Worthing Borough Council have invested a six-figure sum in transforming the popular Brooklands Park

Photo: Wildlife is returning to the popular Brooklands Lake after a six-figure investment by Worthing Borough Council

(PR18-227)

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