AN URBAN meadow in Shakespeare Gardens could be about to join 12 other protected parks and open spaces in Rugby.
Rugby Borough Council’s (RBC) cabinet will consider giving the green Fields in Trust designation – which would safeguard it from future development, and could help secure external funding for new facilities.
The open space on Shakespeare Gardens was originally meadowland and included part of the Sow Brook, before the housing estate was built and the brook was diverted underground.
Since the 1960s the site was open grassland with little biodiversity or landscape value, but work to restore the meadow started earlier this year as part of the council’s Urban Meadows programme.
Now the site could be protected forever as a public open space, accessible by residents and the wider community.
The council’s environment and public realm spokesman Coun Howard Roberts said: “Giving an open space Fields in Trust status in perpetuity reassures residents that their local site will be protected and available to them forever.
“Designating Shakespeare Gardens will give it the same protected status as Caldecott Park, Whitehall Rec and Centenary Park in Newbold, along with smaller sites such as Jubilee Street Rec.
“I am confident that cabinet members will take this opportunity to signal their strong support for the Shakespeare Gardens open space by approving this proposal to give it this special protected status.”
The move is due to be discussed at RBC’s cabinet meeting on Monday November 4.
Visit www.rugby.gov.uk/urbanmeadows for more information on the urban meadows scheme.
