Our Plans
In the last 10 years Thrapston has transformed from a sleepy Northamptonshire town into a bustling, lively and award-winning place to live; full of young families and an incredibly supportive community.
We have made the most of our green space, with numerous pocket parks around the town and the Peace Park in the centre, but we need more.
Under the guidance of The Wildlife Trust and Natural England, we’re carefully converting a few small areas of wasteland area and woodland near the lake into something more useful that can be enjoyed by everyone, year round.
Opportunity Areas 1, 2 and 6
Open space, wildflowers and bug hotels.
Since launching in February our team of volunteer Park Makers have been hard at work maintaining and creating the first areas where families and friends can meet, nature than thrive and adventure can begin. And wow, what an amazing first year.
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Inspired by our simple plan - supported by The Wildlife Trusts - volunteers of all ages have completed our first areas (The Thrapston Willows) near the Nine Arches estate. They’ve mown, weeded and strimmed; litter picked; reseeded grasses and local wildflowers; created bug hotels and protected natural habitats; planted 200 daffodil bulbs, and unearthed overgrown pathways, which have been well-used since.
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Wildflowers, bulbs, and well-maintained trees not only give our park area a pop of colour, they also provide essential support systems for butterflies, bees and other wildlife.
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The only space we've opened up is the open grassland (2) which formerly housed the site compound for Persimmon Homes... everything else has been left to nature, protected and encouraged to flourish.
How we organise ourselves...
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This project is being run by the volunteer management team in conjunction with Thrapston Town
Council. The committee has two elected Town Councillors as permanent members of the team. The
management team is working to a constitution approved by the Town Council.
We keep the size of the management team small and each member has a particular responsibility within the project. We're still recruiting talented and skilled professionals to volunteer their time to help guide the
project. If you're interested, please email us.
We've a big job ahead of us...
The Park covers an area of 30 acres from the Water’s Edge estate to the south of the sailing lake and includes the Thrapston Town Walk to the east, woodland and fields, as well as the Skate Park and BMX track. It’s in the heart of the Nene Valley, at the centre point of the 114 mile Nene Way, which starts in Badby, Northants, and ends at Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, where the River Nene outflows into The Wash.
The plans for each phase will be shared on this website, on our Facebook page and via Thrapston Town Council. We’d welcome your feedback and ideas.
A costed proposal works will be submitted to Thrapston Town Council for approval. The cost for each
phase will be covered by grants and donations with volunteers doing the majority of the work.
Calling building services, landscaping professionals, tree surgeons...!
We need professional companies for certain jobs. Do you own a company that could offer services and or equipment for free? Please get in touch, we'd love to get you involved.
Take a look on our Volunteer page to see how you can get involved to creating the Thrapston Nene Valley Park.