Cassiobury Park is in line for a £4.5 million makeover after a successful bid for lottery cash.

Watford Borough Council has received a grant of £4,542,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Big Lottery Fund to pay for a raft of improvements to the park. 

The news has been welcomed by Elected Mayor of Watford, Dorothy Thornhill, who said: "We worked hard on the bid for external funding as we know Cassiobury Park is a much loved park. These are exciting plans that will see Cassiobury Park up there among the very best in the country."

Alongside restoration of important historic features including bandstands and gatehouses, and the installation of new community facilities, this new funding will also deliver a range of activities designed to help parks across the UK to be more sustainable.

The renovations also include providing an on-site park manager, community park ranger and education officer.

Watford Observer:

Cassiobury Park.

Mayor Thornhill added: "We now have the opportunity to make a real difference to restore much of this historic landscape and improve the facilities. The new park hub building will be a real focus for park activities, as well as providing an opportunity for visitors to discover the rich history of the park.

"I want to thank all the residents and local groups that helped shape our proposals, and also the small team at the council who have worked hard to get this external funding. This is fantastic news for Watford, benefiting local people and future generations."

Carole Souter, chief executive of HLF, said the Big Lottery Fund: "Our report revealed how valued public parks are by people and communities and how essential they are to our physical and emotional well-being. That’s why HLF and the Big Lottery fund have invested over £700million in parks since 1996.

“But the report makes clear that our parks face an uncertain future and so it’s exciting to see how this new investment is going some way towards helping parks like Cassiobury Park find new ways of funding and maintaining them so they are still here to be enjoyed long into the future.”