A ‘NEGLECTED’ Quarry Bank park that users say ‘needs a facelift’ must wait until next year to find out if it will be awarded a £1.5million Lottery grant to spruce it up.

It was announced as long ago as January 2017 that Stevens Park could be in line for the cash windfall through a multi-agency bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund.

Local residents say a lack of events held in the park, plus the absence of toilet facilities and issues such as potholes, littering and dog mess, are keeping people away.

But Dudley council chiefs – who are working with community groups on the Lottery bid – say the proposed revamp and events such as free concerts this summer prove they care about the park.

The bid passed the initial stage last year, with a ‘Stage 2’ development submission set to be made in August and the outcome of the bid likely to be announced in January 2019.

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “There are lots of activities in our parks over the summer, including a series of free band concerts at Stevens Park in July and August.

“Longer term, we are working on the detail of a £1.5million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund which, if successful, will fund significant work in the park including improvements to Tintern House and better toilet facilities.

“These types of bids always take time to make sure they are right, and we hope to hear back some time next year.

“As part of the bid we are working with a charity to set up recycling activities, a small community cafe and horticultural training from the park which will help bring even more people, and improve our visitor numbers to a much loved park.”

Quarry Bank resident Lyn Grice contacted the News with concerns about the park, where she regularly takes her granddaughter.

She said: “We desperately need toilet facilities – how can children use the park without them? This park was so lovely a few years ago and I’m sure it could be again.”

Her concerns were backed up by a string of posts on Facebook, including Emma Castree, who wrote: “I think the park has lacked local authority attention for years. It could be a beautiful place.”

Lee Skinkys added: “The park needs a big time facelift. I spent half my childhood down that park and the amount of things they had on down there was great.

“The carnival, the bonfire, horse show, bands. And now there is nothing except the same play area.”

Stacey Tyler-Crips wrote: “I’d love to be able to spend more time in the park but its lack of upkeep means we don’t – the potholes, rubbish and dog mess seem to be getting worse.”

In response to those issues, Cllr Shakespeare added: “In terms of the mess left by inconsiderate visitors to the park, we work hard to prosecute people who drop litter and do not clean up after their dogs.

“We have a dedicated service to catch and fine these people which is yielding some excellent results.

“We will continue to tackle this problem and hope people will report issues to us either over the phone, emailing, social media, website or via the smartphone app.”