Back of the net for councillors as goals installed in Kettering estate park
Long-awaited play equipment has been installed in a Kettering park to encourage football to be played on a field and not a bowling green.
Paid for by two former North Northants Council members using their empowerment fund, the project has taken nearly three years to come to fruition.
Since the agreement to fund the goals, close to the Kettering Pocket Park play area in the valley between St John’s Road and Cheyne Walk, the original ward councillors have been replaced after elections in May.
Elected members for the Ise Lodge ward – past and present – met to officially launch the sturdy metal structures.
Cllr Ben Jameson, mayor of Kettering and a ward councillor for the Ise ward, on both the town council and North Northamptonshire Council, welcomed the new facility.
He said: “There is a shortage of casual play facilities for young people across the Ise and these new goals will help plug that gap. This is a good example of inter-council and inter-party co-operation for the benefit of this area. I hope they are well used.”
Kettering Town Council, working closely with North Northamptonshire Council, installed the goals in October on the Ise valley green space near to Gough Close and Haig Drive.
The goals were paid for through the member empowerment fund by the two former councillors for Ise ward, Lloyd Bunday and Elliot Prentice. The money went to Kettering Town Council to acquire them and have them installed.
It is hoped that the goals will encourage football to be played in the parkland.