Community Spirit Team
The Community Spirit Team will be 10 years old in 2024. It was set up in 2014 with a mission to make Parkgate a cleaner, tidier, nicer place for residents and for the many visitors that come here. It is a group of volunteers who meet up to work on specific areas that need attention.
We are a group of volunteers who meet on the first Saturday of each month (weather permitting) to work on specific areas that need attention. Our meeting point is in front of St Thomas’s Church at 10am. Litter picking equipment is supplied, including hi-vis jackets. Please come suitably dressed for the weather conditions on the day, with suitable footwear for going onto the marsh. New members are always welcome.
If you are interested in joining the Community Spirit Volunteer Team, please contact Dr Peter Enevoldson by email.
The progress report- 2023
Our main focus is on The Parade: it is the public face of Parkgate and it needs to look good.
Businesses along the Parade do their bit by tidying up outside their premises at the end of the day, and the Street Scene staff come along every morning to empty bins. The Parkgate Fish & Chips shop regularly clean up chip papers and meal containers from the marsh and fill bin bags for the council to remove the following morning.
We have made good progress in a number of areas over the last few years:
The Mostyn House development is now complete.
The Donkey Stand has been refurbished and is a popular attraction.
Businesses along the Parade have improved the exterior of their properties with hanging baskets, planters and window boxes, and most of them have also been painted.
Residential buildings along the Parade have been given a fresh coat of paint by their owners (a big thank you to them).
A boat on the Middle Slip was added and has become a focal point. The Society pays for all the maintenance and planting on the boat.
The seawall is now getting the required attention and maintenance from Cheshire West and Chester Council, and is looking much tidier.
The Ropewalk car park has been upgraded and planted up. When the bulbs flower in the spring it now looks tremendous.
The Welcome to Parkgate Signs have been added (thanks to Neston Town Council).
The Ropewalk triangle has been newly planted and tidied up, and an old colliery wagon was installed.
Parkgate Community Spirit Team - ESt 2014
Cheshire community pride competition
In 2011 Parkgate was entered into the annual Cheshire Community Pride Competition for the Best Kept Village (BKV), but came last out of all the entries. The judges main feedback was that Parkgate was “scruffy”. The Parkgate Society decided in 2014 to review these results and address them.
Understanding The Problem
Looking back, the judges comments were an accurate assessment of the village at the time:
Mostyn House was looking very tired with broken windows and the frontage held up with scaffolding.
The donkey stand had shabby old benches and rusty litter bins with their doors hanging off
The bus shelter in Mostyn Square was semi derelict and smelly
Many buildings were in need of a bit of TLC.
The coffee shop was only open spasmodically.
The seawall was in bad condition. Large areas of mortar were missing from the joints in the sandstone and weeds and trees were growing out of the gaps. The gutters and grids draining the road into the marsh were clogged with weeds and grasses, and the slipways were overgrown. There was also litter and debris brought ashore by the high tides.
Coming up with The Solution
Although several of the issues raised by the 2011 competition entry had been addressed, Parkgate still needed a good tidy up. Our local Cheshire West and Chester Councillor, Brenda Dowding, took steps to engage the wider Parkgate community in an effort to turn the village around.
The result of this is the Society’s Community Spirit Team: a team of local volunteers acting as a task force to carry out regular litter picking, weeding, maintaining communal areas, trimming back vegetative growth and flower planting, etc.
Interested residents were invited to sign up as volunteers, and with over 25 people registering interest, the Parkgate Community Spirit initiative began.
The Community Spirit team do regular marsh tidies, litter picks, clear mud and weeds from the middle slip and cut back overgrown shrubbery and trees that block the footpaths.
The Result
Since the team was established in 2014 we have made good progress. Our yellow vests are a familiar sight around Parkgate on our litter picking days. We always welcome new members to the team - join us to help keep Parkgate a cleaner, tidier and nicer place to be.
Last Updated April 2023