St George Park was founded in 1894. The 38.5 acres were purchased for the princely sum of £12,000, which is (adjusted for inflation) around £1,993,209.05 today. The value of the park now is immeasurably more than that latter figure, but it still requires a substantial capital investment (£680,000) to make it into a modern, inclusive and child-friendly park.
Since being elected in May 2024, I have worked on numerous aspects of the park’s development as the ward councillor for St George Park:
- The three public toilets, with residents and park users regularly contacting me to call for improvements
- The need for effective wildlife and ecosystem protection in the lake and the rest of the park, overseen by the Friends of St George Park
- The incredible participation success story of the tennis courts, currently run by Wesport
- The potential for an exciting revamped bowls club in 2026, utilising the bowling green area through a privately-funded initiative
However, the two elements that are really screaming out for public capital investment are the play park and the wheel park. Here’s the history (with thanks to the Dictionary of St George Park by Barton Hill History Group):
- The Wheel Park was built by Wheelscape in 1982 and officially opened on 23rd April 1983. Wheelscape updated it further in 2003 and 2012, but there have been minimal changes since then. Elevate Bristol was formed around 5 years ago to breathe fresh impetus into the idea of a major upgrade.
- The first dedicated children’s play area was created between 1944 and 1946 and was finally renewed in 1993 (ahead of the park’s centenary celebration) and again in 2009 when it was renamed the John Deasy Play Area after a former ward councillor. This was the last major investment and the Play in St George Park have been set up for around 5 years and raised thousands of pounds for improvements. They have just been awarded a little over £12,000 for a new swingset, but so much more funding is needed to complete Phase 2 of the plans to complete the play park.
My love of St George Park came from my early experiences of my children when babies and toddlers between 2019 and 2023. This was when there was a very in-demand swing set in the centre of the play park. This wooden structure had to be removed due to it becoming unsafe and has never been replaced. My children and I stopped visiting St George Park as much, and nowadays take ourselves to Eastville Park a lot more.
My daughter’s now 6 and I think about how great it would be for St George Park play park to go back to being an exciting place for her to visit. There’s been an excellent start. We have an excellent play park for younger children, but she’s outgrown that, really and wants to fly around on big kid swings. Sadly, this is the story for many families who live locally whose children have not had the all-age facilities in St George Park that they should have done, in some cases throughout their young lives and into adulthood.
My daughter also wants to learn how to skate and, although we’ve tried to do this at the wheel park, it leaves a lot to be desired in its current state. It very clearly needs substantial investment for this to be a space that can be shared by different ages and made inclusive for all.
So that’s my pitch to you, fellow councillors. Please give my daughter (and many other people’s children) somewhere to swing and skate.
Before it’s too late.
Rob Bryher 