Ashby de la Zouch Town Council has put together a management plan with a view to applying for Green Flag status for Hood Park.

The draft plan - for the years 2025 to 2030 - was presented at last month's meeting of the council's Parks & Cemetery Committee.

Councillors agreed that the plan would be discussed again at the December meeting, in readiness to submit an application for Green Flag in the 2025 round.

The Bath Grounds' Green Flag status is already established, now the council want the park on the north side of the town to do likewise.

It is owned by the Town Council, and the management plan sets out its vision for Hood Park.

Ashby de la Zouch Town Council at Legion House. Photo: Ashby Nub News

It says the priorities will be:

• To provide a safe accessible and welcoming space for all members of the community.

• To ensure Hood park is maintained and managed in a sustainable way with input from the community.

• To facilitate and enable opportunities for community involvement, healthy living and volunteering through the provision of high-quality facilities and activities.

• To engender a sense of community ownership and pride by working in partnership to achieve all their aims and objectives.

The plan adds: "In its future management of the site, the town council will seek to maintain and enhance the landscape and amenity value of Hood Park, and its importance as a civic space within the town. 

Hood Park is also home to Ashby Leisure Centre and Lido. Photo: Instantstreetview.com

"In particular, the Town Council will seek to balance the organised sports and informal recreational uses of the site and to ensure that future improvements to facilities are sympathetic to the setting of the park and the enjoyment of all users."

It also says: "Hood Park continues to be a living space and its current usage reflects and continues the history of mixed sporting and community use. 

"In this, as much as its location with the town, the park has become a key part of the identity of Ashby.

"The expansion of Ashby over the last century means that Hood Park now lies at the centre of the town."