New Hardstanding Area at Highfields Primary School

back gate
Lawford Parish Council has delivered an £8500 project, by installing a hard standing area at the back of Highfields Primary School. Parents have been historically collecting their children from the back gate, and during the pandemic a one-way system had also been put in place to comply with Covid Regulations, but as a result this area became very worn, and when it rained it turned into a mud bath.

The Parish Council was hoping to have had this work carried out last year, but it was let down by the chosen contractor; the works have been carried out by “English Rose” a Brantham based landscape firm owned by Mark Linford and Lawford born Shaun Garrad a former pupil of the school.

Mrs Hilary Cook, Headteacher of Highfields, said: “The parents and staff of the school are very grateful to Lawford Parish Council for having funded and carried out this excellent work at the back of our school; this will make a huge difference to parents and children when they walk their children to and from school, and I am also grateful to Cllr Carlo Guglielmi for having had oversight of the project.”

The works carried out involved 140mm excavation topped up with grade 1 core material; the installation and securing down of 50mm rubber matting; and finally topping all this up with shingles to ease drainage. A new concrete path from the gate to the existing footpath has also been provided, but the Parish Council had discounted the cheaper option of concreting over the area because the roots of the many trees surrounding the area would have damaged the surface.

Cllr Val Guglielmi, Chairman of Lawford PC, and Tendring District Ward Member for Lawford, Manningtree and Mistley said: “I am delighted to see this project finally been completed, as the Parish Council was hoping to have had it delivered around last Christmas, but we had been let down by the contractor; I am very grateful to English Rose Landscape for having completed the works in record time, and for such a high standard workmanship”. She also said: “There are other projects in the pipeline which the Parish Council has already agreed to undertake, such as the complete re-tarmacking work and other improvement of the Riverview car park; the linking of the footpath at the back of Manningtree High School to the new Summers Park footpath; and a new footpath link from Cotman Green to Summers Park. The Parish Council has been successful in the past in securing grant funding for other schemes it has delivered, and of course it will try again for these other projects, which may take a little longer, but do bear with us!”

gate and coucnil

Over last winter the Parish Council had also invested a considerable amount of money in having provided loads of wood chippings at the back of Highfields School as well as the end of the Riverview footpath that connects to Summers Park to address the muddy conditions thus giving a much better experience to children and parents alike when walking through this very busy and popular link.

Date of notice: 
Wednesday, 8 September 2021