South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 10/12/2015

The Page Park clock tower building restoration project has received a £50,000 funding boost thanks to a grant from SITA Trust.

The grant was made possible through the Landfill Communities Fund and will enable major structural repairs to the clock tower, along with painting and decoration, and improvements to the park’s plants and paving around the building.

The restoration of the clock tower is the centrepiece of a wider project to regenerate Page Park and increase community use.

Communities Chair Cllr Heather Goddard said: “We’re delighted that SITA Trust has given us this support to restore the Page Park clock tower building. Page Park is the most important green space in Staple Hill and has been much loved by generations of local people since it was given to the public in 1910. The clock tower was one of the first buildings erected in the park, and it is great to know that we can now proceed with our plans to restore the clock tower so that future generations can continue to enjoy it.”

It has been a long standing aspiration of the Friends of Page Park group to restore the clock tower building, which is the most iconic building in Page Park and one of the most recognisable in Staple Hill itself.

Friends of Page Park representative William Lee said: “We are really pleased that this grant has been secured to enable the restoration of the clock tower. This is the building that first springs to mind for most people when they think about Page Park and so its restoration is a really vital part of the exciting project to restore and enhance the park.”

Marianne Ivin of SITA Trust added: “This is the second project that the Trust has funded in Page Park, with the bandstand receiving £30,000 previously. It is a fantastic park with some very beautiful structures that are really worth preserving. The Friends of Page Park are a very proactive and determined group and we are delighted to be able to help both them and South Gloucestershire Council with further restoration work. SITA Trust provides grants through the Landfill Communities Fund. This important source of funding has been available since 1997 and has provided such worthy projects with more than £1.4 billion.”

SITA Trust distributes funds contributed by the recycling and resource management company SITA UK.

The restoration work is expected to begin in Spring 2016.