A meeting is planned in Keswick to consider the flood recovery work needed a the town's parks.

Town councillors, who are trustees of Fitz Park and Hope Park, met last week for initial discussions about repairing the damage caused by December's three floods.

They agreed to hold an extra meeting soon to discuss the work in more detail and consider options.

Both the upper and lower sections of Fitz Park, which is home to some of the town's sports clubs, were devastated in the storms, with flood water and thousands of tons of silt washed across the land.

Knights Bridge in the lower section of the park was washed into the river, reportedly after being hit by a static caravan.

Wivell Bridge, which leads from Penrith Road to the upper section of the park, was damaged and saw parts of the path on which it sits washed away.

Paths in the park were also lost.

Facilities including the sports pavilion, bowling club, games and tennis hut and storage units at Fitz Park were also damaged, along with memorial seating and river banks.

At Hope Park, the golf hut was his along with the boules pitt, a workshop and store and machinery and equipment.

The trust has already agreed move the silt deposits left in the upper section of Fitz Park to the lower section, level them near the sports pavilion and reseed them.
Putting the silt there will cost around £1,000, compared to a bill of at least £45,000 to have it removed from the site.

The upper section of the park will be closed for around one to two weeks while the work is done.

At the extra meeting, the trust will discuss its approach to restoring the parks and whether it would be a good use of funds to repair all damage when another flood could arrive and destroy things again.