WORK is about to begin on a programme of improvements to transform the Meco Memorial Nature Park in Worcester.
Work to improve the park, (more commonly known as Sanctuary Park) was set to begin on Tuesday (May 9) and will include the creation of a memorial area to remember the victims of the bombing of the Meco Works during the Second World War.
A campaign for a permanent memorial began in 2019 to remember the seven people who died in the only bombing raid on Worcester during the Second World War is being suggested for the heart of a new St John’s housing development.
Coun Richard Udall made the call for the new open space at the proposed development at Sanctuary Park to be dedicated as a ‘Park of Peace’ in memory of those who died and were injured in the Meco bombing on October 3, 1940.
No public memorial exists to mark the event.
A lone German plane bombed St John’s and killed seven people at the Meco works in Bromyard Road, injuring 50 people in a raid which saw a number of houses damaged in neighbouring streets.
The memorial will include a sculpture and seating and is part of a scheme by Worcester City Council to improve the park. An information panel about the bombing will also be installed.
Other plans for the park include areas of wildflowers, which will be seeded in the autumn to bloom next year, along with a community orchard along the northern boundary of the allotments, which will be planted in the autumn.
Members of the city council’s Environment Committee have allocated £30,000 additional funding for the project.
Subject to an ecological assessment and habitat survey, it is proposed to use this money to create a kickabout area, a boardwalk and steps and link paths across the wetland to create a north-south route for pedestrians walking around the park.
Worcestershire County Council will be carrying out work to resurface the public right of way between Wilks Close and the allotments access track. The Public Right of Way will be closed during the works and pedestrians are requested to use an alternative route.
The park itself will remain open but there will be restricted access on certain days. Temporary protection of the construction area will be required but it is hoped that disruption will be kept to a minimum.
