Friends of the
Dell Park Chepstow
The FDPC story
The Dell Park is nestled between Chepstow’s 600 year old castle and the beautiful town centre; yet it is tired and unloved. Sadly the year’s have not been kind to our town’s central park, much of the play equipment is worn out and some items have been removed as they are no longer safe to play on.
It is a dated space that doesn’t meet the needs of our community and is in desperate need of rejuvenation.
In 2016 a small group of like-minded locals formed the Friends of the Dell Park Chepstow (FDPC) with the big ambition to transform the park. The group reached out to people across the Chepstow community to see what others thought and a lot of people agreed that the park was outdated and didn’t inspire children to play.
In late 2016, FDPC secured a grant from Chepstow Town Council which meant we could fund The Landmark Practice to put pen to paper and design a new park which took account of everyone’s feedback.
FDPC worked closely with Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) to unpick the complex details of the lease which had lapsed on the land where the park is situated. There would be no way we could progress with our plans and apply for grants without a lease in place!
Thankfully we were successful in helping Monmouthshire County Council negotiate a 25 year extension to the lease with the kind agreement of the landlord, Sir Charles Denny.
“We think this an extremely worthwhile project and wish everyone involved every success.”
- Sir Charles Denny
With funding support from the National Lottery the group were able to organise a Family Festival in the Dell Park in the summer of 2018. We were able to exhibit the exciting park designs and get further in-depth feedback from the hundreds of attendees, while at the same time helping to showcase some of the amazing local community groups that Chepstow has to offer (such as dance schools, martial arts groups and Girl Guides, to name but a few).
Family Festival 2018 hosted by FDPC
In 2018 the group reluctantly took a year out from FDPC activities to focus on personal commitments.
Fast forward to 2020 and the group went from strength to strength with a few more volunteers joining us. We continued to work in partnership with MCC and begun detailed discussions with CADW.
During 2021 and 2022 the group secured further grants from both Chepstow Town Council and Monmouthshire County Council. These supported further design work and a number of different assessments and surveys. Our all important designs for phase one of the park were also published.
In spring 2023 we had confirmation from Chepstow Town Council of their agreement to provide a £100,000 contribution towards the first phase of development!
With this exceptional amount of funding secured, we further developed the park designs and submitted the all-important planning permission application in late 2023. In February 2024 the plans were approved!
In March 2024 we received £25,000 of funding from the Welsh Government's Transforming Towns programme, with thanks to Monmouthshire County Council. This funding has been used to order some of the new vital play park equipment and will be carefully stored in readiness for the full redevelopment.
Meanwhile, we are now focused on submitting our lottery funding application and continuing to engage with local residents on our plans for Chepstow's new destination play park.
In total we are aiming to raise in the region of £500,000 to cover the full re-development costs – so if you know of any organisations or people that would like to contribute to this worthy cause we’d love to hear from you.
Our group passionately believes that with a little imagination (and a fair amount of money) the Dell Park can reach its full potential as a thriving destination park that is a fun and accessible place for people of all ages and abilities.
We’ll keep going until the job’s done!
Milestones achieved at a glance
2016 – The Friends of the Dell Park Chepstow formed, early consultation with people in the Chepstow community and Facebook group established.
2017 – Ongoing consultation to gather views including surveys and focus groups with parents, children, teenagers and community organisations (such as MAGIC – Monmouthshire Family Support Network For Children and Young People With Disabilities and Chepstow Mencap).
2017 – The Landmark Practice were commissioned to design a new park taking account of community feedback.
2017 – Renewed lease on the land secured.
Summer 2018 – Awarded funding from the National Lottery Awards For All to help host the Family Festival held in the Dell Park which provided an opportunity to showcase the new park designs and seek further in-depth feedback from the local community.
March 2021 – £4,675 grant awarded by Chepstow Town Council, allowing us to meet necessary planning permission requirements before bidding for National Lottery funding.
May 2021 – Phase one park designs published.
March 2022 – Monmouthshire County Councillors gave support for the project and agreed funding of £25,000.
June 2022 – FDPC became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
November 2022 – £8,475 grant awarded by Chepstow Town Council to support the costs of design work and a heritage impact assessment.
April 2023 – £100,000 contribution confirmed from Chepstow Town Council to help support phase one and phase two costs.
October 2023 – Extended designs for the park published and showcased at Chepstow's Spudfest (community event).
November 2023 – Planning application submitted.
February 2024 – Planning application approved for the park.
March 2024 – £25,000 of funding received and some park equipment purchased with thanks to Monmouthshire County Council for securing via the Welsh Government's Transforming Towns programme.
Immediate next steps
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Submit bid for National Lottery Funding
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Research and bid for other grant funding
Fundraising target circa:
£500,000