DENTON & AUDENSHAW DISTRICT ASSEMBLY RYECROFT HALL AUDENSHAW MANAGEMENT PLAN 2007/2011 1 CCOONNTTEENNTTSS PPaaggee 1. Tameside’s vision for Ryecroft 3 2. Site Details 4 3. Strategic Context 11 4. A Welcoming Place 17 5. Healthy, Safe and Secure 18 6. Clean and Well Maintained 21 7. Sustainability 23 8. Conservation and Heritage 26 9. Community Involvement 28 10. Marketing 31 11. Management 33 2 1. Tameside’s vision for Ryecroft “We want Tameside to be an attractive and environmentally friendly place to live, work and visit. We are committed to working with local communities to protect and improve our surroundings to make Tameside a cleaner and more accessible place for current and future generations”. This statement is the District Assembly’s vision for the future of Ryecroft Hall. The statement is taken from Tameside’s Community Strategy 2003/ 2013 where one of the key themes is ‘An Attractive Borough’ and was identified via extensive consultation with both local residents and businesses. The basis for managing and improving Ryecroft Hall are the eight standards set out in the Green Flag criteria, which are: • A Welcoming Place • Conservation and Heritage • Healthy, Safe and Secure • Community Involvement • Clean and Well Maintained • Marketing • Sustainability • Management As part of this vision we are committed to year on year improvements to our Parks and open spaces. 3 2. Site Details Name: Ryecroft Hall Contact: Nick Sayers, Assistant Town Manager Denton and Audenshaw District Assembly Market Street Denton M34 2AP Location: Grid Reference: 391453: 397817 Map Reference: SJ9197NW Ryecroft Hall is situated in Audenshaw between Droylsden and Ashton­Under­Lyne Area: 2.549 Hectares Tenure: The land is owned by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. Access: Leave M60 at Junction 23 then onto Manchester Road (A635) – Ryecroft Hall is approximately ½ mile on the left hand side. 4 Bus Services: Bus services which supply Manchester Road are­ 216 ­ Ashton­ Under­Lyne/Manchester 217 ­ Manchester/ Mossley circular 218 ­ Manchester/ Mossley circular 236 ­ Glossop/Manchester 237 ­ Glossop/Manchester For more information on local bus and train services please contact GMPTIL on 0161­228­7811. History of the Park: Ryecroft Hall is a beautiful Grade 2 listed building dating back to 1849, when the Earl of Stamford and Warrington sold the land to the Buckley family, who owned the cotton mills at Ryecroft. James Smith Buckley passed the house on in 1885 to his nephew Abel Buckley, who lived there for twenty­two years. He was a Liberal MP and the Mayor of Ashton, and contributed to the cost of building Albion Church. In 1913 Austin Hopkinson, MP for Mossley, inventor of a coal cutting machine and owner of Delta Engineering Works, acquired the hall. During the First World War it was a voluntary hospital with over 100 beds. Austin Hopkinson gave the house and grounds to the people of Audenshaw in 1922 for Council Offices and to this day it is used for community purposes. 5 The Hall: The Hall is well worth a visit as it has its own Community Association which was formed in 1933 and continues to thrive with over 700 members enjoying its facilities. Providing a large range of activities some of which include: Mums and Tots, various dancing classes, craft workshops, Karate, Drama Group and P.O.P.Ps (Projects for Older Peoples Partnerships) catering for all members of the community through out the day and during the week. The Hall also accommodates Audenshaw Library point and Tameside’s Social Care and Health Team, Joint Pension Team and Manchester Ecology Unit as well as being available to hire for Weddings and Birthdays. The Hall also has a Management Committee made up of the different user groups who meet monthly. Ryecroft Halls Management Committee and Ryecroft Hall Friends Group, a sub division of the committee, also provide an annual Funday with help from user groups from the Hall and in conjunction with Audenshaw Local History Society provide an Annual Heritage weekend. The local MP and Ward Councillors hold their surgeries in the Hall and the Tameside PACT Team and Police also hold their surgeries for help and advice. 6 The Grounds: There are a number of reasons as to why the park is so popular with the local community some of which are:­ There is a large playground for ages 3 to 14 years and consists of swings, slide, sand play, multi units, pirate ships, play train and springys. The playground is inspected daily and any faults reported immediately. Refurbishment of the playground will be taking place during 2010/11, through a Playbuilder grant from Play England. The Park has a well used bowling green, which is open for public use throughout the summer season. Recently the Bowling Club celebrated its th 60 Anniversary and is still an active and important Group within the park. Both the ladies and men’s Bowling Teams are also active within the park and during 2006 their pavilion was refurbished, which was supported by the Council and local MP. The Bowlers also have a summer building with kitchen facilities by the bowling green which is used through out the summer and during matches by the bowlers for serving refreshments. 7 The park contains a mixture of planting including some of the original trees dating from when it was privately owned and maintained. As well as the tree planting the site contains a mixture of shrubberies and bedding displays. The bedding displays are in permanent beds located around the main Hall and the bowling green as well as tubs and hanging baskets at strategic locations. The spring and summer displays are a much appreciated feature of the park. A longer term programme allows other areas to be rejuvenated and planted with a wide variety of shrubs and trees as existing plants become over mature. To the rear of the park are various paths that take you through a large woodland area, which is enjoyed by park users and wildlife. The woodland areas have benefited from naturalised bulb plantings of Narcissus and Crocus many of which have been planted in conjunction with School children from the local Primary Schools. 8 Various varieties of wildflower were also planted in drifts creating a meadow style. These included colourful and hardy perennial species mixed with cornfield annuals to encourage continuity of the wildflower meadow drifts and an established habitat for a higher diversity of insects. Last year we extended the wild flower meadow and installed an interactive wildflower information board. In conjunction with the bird and bat boxes that have been installed to encourage a habitat for a higher diversity of wildlife. An area has been developed to encourage butterfly habitat. Recently Victorian style lights were installed outside the Hall, which ensured the heritage of the Hall is not lost. The park is open from dawn to dusk with the Hall opening times 9.00am to 10.00pm Monday to Friday. The Hall is open at weekend for private functions. The park gates are locked every evening. 9 Site Location Ryecroft Hall is 2.549 Hectares in size, located in Audenshaw, Tameside. See location Plan Below: 10 3. Strategic Context Strategies and Policies Tameside’s parks and open spaces are an integral part of the public areas of the borough and are managed in line with the Council’s wider strategies and policies. Below are listed a number of such strategies and policies which have particular relevance to all Tameside’s parks including Ryecroft Hall. COMMUNITY STRATEGY Residents throughout Tameside were asked what their priorities were for the Borough; from their views six key themes were identified, which formed the basis for Tameside’s Community Strategy 2003/ 2013. The themes were: 1) Supportive Communities 2) A Safe Environment 3) A Prosperous Society 4) A Learning Community 5) A Healthy Population 6) An Attractive Borough Ryecroft Hall plays a vital role in fulfilling these priorities for the people of Audenshaw and Tameside as a whole. In planning the management of the park over the next three years, each of the priorities has been taken into account as shown below. 1) Supportive Communities We will help to encourage a strong community spirit by providing a park, which has a wide range of facilities and can be enjoyed by people of all backgrounds and interests. The Hall has a Management Committee comprising of Council representatives and local residents and a Friends of Ryecroft Hall has recently been established as a sub committee of this. 11 2) A Safe Environment We want Ryecroft Hall to be a place where all members of the community feel safe and secure and we will support this through: good design, high standards of maintenance, staff working onsite and encouragement of high levels of public use. Tameside has established a Tameside Patroller base in the Hall and the District Assembly staff meet monthly with the local Police and Community Together (PACT). (Please see agenda and minutes in Appendix 13) 3) A Prosperous Society A well maintained and attractive park adds to the overall appearance of Audenshaw, which helps in attracting more visitors to the area and bringing in more investments and jobs. 4) A Learning Community We want to encourage schools and local groups to see Ryecroft Hall as a place where children, students and others can come to keep learning throughout their lives. We will do this by listening to resident’s views and providing appropriate facilities and opportunities for learning where possible. We use the development of the grounds as a learning opportunity for the local community in particular for environmental and heritage projects and wherever possible we consult and encourage participation in park projects at the planning stage.