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Gnosall Parish Logo (Image) 

Gnosall Parish Council           

 (Including the wards of Moreton and Knightley)                                   

 

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OPEN SPACES

Introduction

The Parish Council has extensive experience of recreational management and it owns and manages the largest area of open-space in the village - 25 acres of land alongside the Doley Brook known as The Acres – which was acquired in 1979.  In 2011/2012, following a successful funding application, the parish council manged an extensive project and created the boardwalk and wetland area.  The wetland itself is a designated Site of Biological Importance. The key aims were to improve public access & facilities and restore wetland wildlife habitats. In so doing, a very much valued public open-space has become a central focus for recreation, education and leisure, with the Boardwalk allowing parishioners to access it more easily and enjoy the wetland environment.

The success of the project has been recognised through a number of environmental and community awards, and the site is regularly used now for sports events such as the Gnosall Fun Run and Family Fun Days. Climate change has meant that adjustments have had to be made to the Boardwalk regularly in order to keep it above the rising water table and this is an ongoing challenge. For more information about The Acres Regeneration project, see this article which appeared in the GMK November 2020 edition.

At around the same time, a children’s play park was updated and this has been in constant use, with families valuing the secure play area and adjacent picnic area. In 2022, the equipment was renewed and safety surfacing improved. Football pitches were originally laid out on the former meadows but this site proved unusable because of flooding, so new facilities were focussed on the 5 acres of higher land on the eastern part of the site.

Many years ago, a grassed football pitch was created and funding from the Big Lottery Fund allowed the creation of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA).  These facilities have proved extremely successful and are in constant use.

Over time, more facilities have been added and we now have a Tennis Court and a Basketball Hoop area, which are well-used, along with a range of Outdoor Gym equipment which are all free to use.

Elsewhere in the village, alongside the A518/Station Road, there is another games area known as The Chippy Jumps (guess what shop it’s opposite?!) where equipment for older youngsters can be found, including a zip wire, climbing frame and assault course.

In addition to these areas, the Parish Council is responsible for the upkeep of The Village Green on Brookhouse Road, which is used for community activities, and the Burial Ground on Stafford Road, as well as allotments off the A518. Other miscellaneous locations and features include bus shelters, notice boards, benches and any other street furniture which is or becomes the property, or the responsibility, of the Parish Council.

The Parish Council is also custodian of the Lock-up, a Grade II listed building built in 1830 and formerly used for the “confinement of inebriates and miscreants”. It stood at the junction of High Street, Brookhouse Road and Stafford Road until the County Council proposed widening the road in 1964 and removing it to Shugborough Museum. The Women’s Institute made it their mission to retain it in Gnosall and eventually achieved this when land at the end of Sellman Street was gifted to them in 1971. The building was dismantled and re-erected there in 1972. For more information about it, see Historic England.

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