Central Park
Since 1906, Central Park has been the green heart of Dartford - so popular in its heyday that trippers would come from miles around to enjoy the attractions, river and formal gardens.
Today, the park’s mix of sports facilities, open space and gardens is still much loved by local people but after a hundred years it’s not surprising that it’s need of a little tender loving care.
A century on, we’d like to restore some of the Park’s long-lost traditional features and put it back at the heart of local life. With your help we can make this wonderful Edwardian space fit for a new generation.
We’d like to provide more recreation, more sport, more gardens, more entertainment and more places to rest and relax. We want there to be more for kids and families – a safe haven from our busy town.
We’ve already made a great start. In 2005 the council bought 23 acres of former GlaxoSmithKline land, the biggest single addition in the park’s history.
Better still, this means that Dartford’s historic river is back at the heart of the park rather than a forgotten boundary.The Council Leader, Jeremy Kite, has also confirmed that there will be no road through Central Park as part of any regeneration plan – meaning more space for people.
Thanks to our expansion, Central Park is already home to sports like athletics, football, bowls and tennis, but there’s much more to Parks than sport. How about lazing on a sunny afternoon listening to music from a new bandstand?
Or families paddling or punting in Dartford’s own river? Your ideal day in the Park might mean tea and cakes in the new riverside tearoom or a family picnic.
It could be just walking the dog in the evening or enjoying our new formal gardens.
The historic Acacia Hall will also be sensitively renovated making it ideal for parties, receptions and weddings, and we’re looking to provide fantastic new family facilities – for swimming, leisure and sport - on the site of some of the tired old buildings near East Hill.
