Western Park is a park and surrounding suburb located in West End of Leicester.
The park itself was bought for £30,000 in 1897 and at 178 acres (0.72 km2)[1] is the biggest in Leicester.[2] While the park has a "blend of meadows, mature woods and hedgerows"[3] the park also contains a large number of sporting facilities including a bmx track, a skate ramp, 2 Bowling greens, 5 Football pitches, 6 Cricket pitches (all with associated changing facilities) and 6 Tennis courts.[4] Until the 1950s the Park's tennis courts, then located to the far west of the Park, were the home of Westcotes Church Tennis Club and then Westfields Lawn Tennis Club.[5] The club later moved to a site on the nearby Eastfield Road; the courts on Western Park are now open to the public.
The former park warden's lodge is home to the environmental charity Groundworks Leicester & Leicestershire,[6] formerly known as Environ. This building is now called the "Eco House" after being converted as a show house, used to demonstrate ways of making homes more environmentally friendly. It is open to the public and holds one-off events as well as receiving visits from local schools.[7] The Eco House and the neighbouring recycling centre are parts of the larger Groundwork UK network.[8]
A voluntary group, The Friends of Western Park, works with the city council to "improve the park for everyone".[9][10]
The area of Leicester sharing the park's name is a generally affluent area to the South and East of the park. The suburb also contains Dovelands Primary School which caters for 450 4-11 year olds as well as a small additional set of nursery school children,[11] St. Anne's Parish Church,[12] and the aforementioned Westfields Tennis Club. The club has four floodlit courts and caters to both children and adults from the local area and beyond.[13]
| Western Park (2) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal Democrat | Roger Blackmore | 1,297 | 24% | ||
| Liberal Democrat | Peter Coley | 1,198 | 22% | ||
| Labour | Neil Clayon | 609 | 11% | ||
| Labour | Peter Mason | 600 | 11% | ||
| Conservative | Frances Ashlin | 544 | 10% | ||
| Conservative | Julian John | 515 | 9% | ||
| Green | Christopher Seal | 358 | 7% | ||
| Green | Brian Fewster | 353 | 6% | ||
| Turnout | 2,871 | ||||
| Liberal Democrat hold | Swing | ||||
| Liberal Democrat hold | Swing | ||||