Parts of park redevelopment plan 'under threat'

The popular park opened to the public in the 1950s

Proposals to redevelop a popular park are under threat after drainage issues were discovered.

Parts of Stockton's Preston Park are currently being transformed with £12.4m of Levelling Up funding.

But some planned improvements, which include the reopening of the park's disused aviary and increased accessibility measures, could now be dropped.

At a cabinet meeting last week, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council leader Bob Cook said the authority's finance team was exploring alternative funding routes to help keep the development on track, adding: "We should try and seek investment."

The Levelling Up money will fund improvements to the park's cafe, toilets and car park, along with an extension to its museum to incorporate an exhibition space and an open store for the display of local objects.

However, funds put aside to improve accessibility around its playground, reopen its aviary, demolish the 1920s South Lodge and install a Stockton and Darlington Railway themed attraction have had to be spent on tackling the drainage issues.

'Comes with the territory'

To comply with environmental regulations, a new water tank and a "significant length of new drainage as well as a new connection into the nearby network" are needed, according to reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Iain Robinson, the council's assistant director for town centre development, said the cost of the work would require some elements of the redevelopment to be "omitted from the programme".

In a written statement to cabinet, councillor Nigel Cooke said: "This kind of unforeseen utility issue often comes with the territory of working with historic buildings and associated infrastructure.

"The project included contingency funds for unforeseen costs, however the drainage problem is not something we could cover without reducing the scope of other parts of the project."

A detailed report will be presented at February's cabinet meeting and is expected to outline the council's options.