Six of York's 19 park schemes are done, with Cemetery Road, Ashton Avenue and Hull Road Park next. The Bachelor Hill steps are paused as costs tripled to £29k.

Six of the 19 schemes in York’s Parks Investment Fund are finished. Three more have their first phase done. The rest are out to tender or about to start, and the council says the whole programme is on track to finish by the end of February 2027.

The figures come from a progress report to the council’s Executive on Tuesday 6 October. Its status table is dated 24 September (Executive report pack, item 8; Annex 1, scheme by scheme).

One scheme is being stopped for now. Rebuilding the steps and adding a handrail at the Tenant Road entrance to Bachelor Hill was estimated at £10,000. The expected cost is now £29,000, which the report calls “three times the original estimate”. Officers are asking councillors to pause it.

What is finished

The report lists these as complete:

Park What was done Estimate Cost
Chesney’s Field, senior play area New safety surfacing under three units £20k £13.8k
Hull Road Park, Lions Head area Handrails, tactile paving, repointing, drainage £15k £19.2k
Hull Road Park, Millfield Avenue New perimeter railings and gate £25k £12.8k
Hull Road Park, Millfield Avenue New tarmac path £25k £13.6k
Cornlands Road open space New surfaced path into the play area £27.5k £23.1k
Hull Road Park, beside the beck Footpath rebuilt £20k £29.5k

The first phase is also done at three more sites:

  • Hull Road Park main play area: safety surfacing under four units and a new seesaw.
  • Viking Road play area: a new layout at the entrance so people can see into the site.
  • Chesney’s Field junior play area: a new path from the main road to the play area gate.

Crombie Avenue’s rebuilt play area, with new entrances, was due to be finished on 28 September, according to the table.

What comes next, and where

  • Cemetery Road play area: new equipment and seating. A school and community vote on the design was set for 28 September. The budget has gone up from £25k to £37k, using local section 106 money.
  • Ashton Avenue junior play area: new equipment and better access, £70k. A tender is imminent.
  • Chesney’s Field junior play area: new equipment, surfacing and seating, £65k. A tender is imminent.
  • Hull Road Park main play area: a new accessible play zone. Tenders are due back on 20 October. Accessible seating and surfacing should be in by the end of November.
  • Viking Road play area: two old pieces of equipment replaced. Tenders came back on 18 September.
  • Brailsford Crescent junior play area: all equipment and surfacing replaced. A contractor has been appointed and the budget has risen from £15k to £20k.
  • Glen Gardens and Rowntree Park: new surfaces, goals and fencing on both basketball courts, £45k each, going out to tender this month.
  • Rowntree Park: a new net for the 6m pyramid climber, plus repairs to rotting timbers in the large multi-play unit.
  • Acomb Green play area: replacement steps, contractor to be appointed this month.
  • Bell Farm and Byland Avenue: about 40% done, with groundworks, tree crown lifting and a crushed stone path from Birch Close planned for the autumn.

Swings for older children have been requested at both Chesney’s Field and Ashton Avenue. Neither has any money yet. They will only go ahead if an external grant bid this autumn succeeds.

Our earlier report covers the new Glen Gardens play area in Heworth, which opened last week. It was paid for by developer contributions alongside the fund.

Where the money comes from

The council calls this a £750,000 fund (City of York Council, 28 September 2026). The report’s own finance table comes to £730,900, from three sources:

  • £500,000 from the council’s park fund
  • £152,300 in general section 106 money paid by developers
  • £78,600 in section 106 and third-party money tied to particular sites
Bar chart of the Parks Investment Fund's three funding sources: £500,000 from the council's park fund, £152,300 in general section 106 money and £78,600 in site-specific section 106 and third-party funds, totalling £730,900.
Chart by The York Times. Source: Parks Investment Fund progress report, City of York Council Executive, 6 October 2026.
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Of that, £643,600 is spent, committed or allocated to schemes. The project manager costs £73,000. That leaves £14,300 as a contingency. Add separate section 106 projects this year and total spending on York’s green spaces comes to around £925,000, the report says.

Five other schemes were looked at and costed but will not go ahead under this programme. They include a refit of Hull Road Park pavilion, costed at between £40,000 and £385,000 depending on the option, and a new path into Monkbridge Gardens from Heworth Green.

What children and disabled families asked for

About 1,100 pupils from ten primary schools and around 120 residents helped design the new play areas at Ashton Avenue, Cemetery Road, Chesney’s Field and Hull Road Park. The schools were Burton Green, Clifton Green, Hob Moor, Hob Moor Oaks, Dringhouses, Westfield, Fishergate, St George’s, Tang Hall and St Aelred’s.

A separate citywide survey in June drew 200 responses from disabled children and their parents or carers (Annex 2, survey findings). Their top three priorities were:

  1. more inclusive play equipment, so disabled children can play alongside friends
  2. accessible paths, surfacing and entrances
  3. secure fencing and self-closing gates

Woodchip surfaces, narrow gates and steps were named as barriers. Older disabled children and young people were the group the survey found worst served. The report says every new play area design must now include more inclusive equipment, suitable surfacing and new gates where needed.

Hull Road Park’s first Green Flag

Hull Road Park was entered for a Green Flag Award for the first time this year and won it in July. The report says the judges found it “clearly very well supported” by community groups. An application for a 6m flagpole will follow this month.

Councillors are also being asked to approve about 90 new trees in and around play areas. White Rose Forest has offered to pay for the planting, tree guards and three to four years of aftercare.

What it means for you

  • If you use Hull Road Park, Chesney’s Field, Viking Road or Cornlands Road: the finished paths, railings and surfacing are open now.
  • If you live near Cemetery Road, Ashton Avenue or Brailsford Crescent: your play area is next in line, with the work due by February 2027.
  • If you use the Tenant Road entrance to Bachelor Hill: the steps will not be rebuilt under this programme for now. The report says nearby residents told the council they would rather the money went on play equipment.
  • If your local park is not on the list: the council says it will make grant bids this autumn to cover play areas that missed the cut in October 2025.
  • To watch the decision: the Executive meets at 4.30pm on Tuesday 6 October at West Offices (agenda).

Looking for somewhere to go this half term? Our October half term guide and things to do in York page list what is on.

Sources