Work on £1.17m Boultham Park lake restoration sets sail

Work will soon get underway on a £1.17m lake project at Boultham Park, which is hoped to improve the quality of the water and bring back activities like fishing and boating.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £658,700 to the City of Lincoln Council to begin the second phase of the Boultham Park restoration project.

Work on the latest part of the project, which is supported by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and the Boultham Park Advisory Group, could take up to a year to complete.

It will focus on enhancing biodiversity and restoring the historic lake by improving water quality and lake edges. Water aeration equipment will also be installed to stop the build-up of silt.

Improvements will also include bank restoration work and woodland planting, footpath improvements and provision of fishing pegs.

Activities including boating will also return after approval by city councillors.

In addition, there will be a public art trail to encourage people to explore the lake area and a three-year programme of events and activities.

Some restoration of the park, which celebrated it’s 90th anniversary in 2019, has already taken place.

The first phase of the project, a £4.1 million restoration with a new café, bandstand, pathways and park furniture in partnership with Linkage Community Trust, was recently celebrated on the park’s 90th birthday. 

The overall project also created a new park cafe and glasshouse and resorted the old stable block building to make an education centre for the Linkage Boultham Park College.

It included £2.7 million funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund’s Parks for People programme.

Councillor Bob Bushell, City of Lincoln Council’s portfolio holder for Remarkable Place, said: “We are also planning to improve access to and around the lake and reintroduce lost activities including occasional boating.

“New activities will also be available including volunteering and learning opportunities focussed on subjects like wildlife, habitat management and history.

“Much has already been achieved at Boultham Park thanks to the National Heritage Lottery Fund and lottery players, and our great band of volunteers, and news that this latest work is now going ahead will ensure that the lake will be another jewel in Lincoln’s already gleaming crown.”