Tiverton Town Council Strategic Plan Our vision for Tiverton

Making more of our parks

Westexe Rec, Amory Park and People’s Park are three of Tiverton’s best-loved places. We’d like to take them on, so we can look after them and make them even better for everyone.

Last updated 18 October 2026

People looking at a newly planted spiral flower bed, edged with pale stones, on the grass of a park
  1. On the projects list
  2. Being explored
  3. Being developed
  4. Agreed
  5. Under way
  6. Completed

Stage 1 of 6: on the projects list. We have agreed to put this on our list of projects. Nothing else has been decided yet.

Now: We’re asking what you think.

Three parks with a story

Daffodils in the grass under tall trees in a park

People’s Park really is the people’s. It opened in the summer of 1888 to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the first of the town’s three public parks. John Coles of Washfield, who had made his fortune in London, gave £1,000 to buy the land, and, as the inscription on its gates says, “funds for the completion of the park were raised by over 1,500 friends of the movement”. Look out for its 1888 drinking fountain, the tulip tree planted for the Coronation in 1937, and the “charter oak” planted by Princess Marina in 1965. Its shelter reopened in 2024, bright with murals by local artists.

Westexe Recreation Ground, everyone’s “Rec”, was planned for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and opened in June 1900. Over the years it grew, with new walks, a boating pond and the paddling pool that has cooled Tiverton’s children for decades. Today it has the paddling pool in summer, a play area, picnic tables, a football pitch and the Bowling Club, and its bandstand, gates, railings and fine old trees make it a heritage park in its own right. In August 2026 it hosted our free Proms in the Park with Tiverton Town Band, which was extremely well attended and successful.

Amory Park, beside the River Lowman, is where Tiverton plays sport: football pitches used by local clubs and youth teams, a large multi-use games area, and Tiverton BMX Club’s track, which hosted a South West regional round in 2025.

Who looks after them now

People’s Park is held in trust for everyone who lives in and visits Tiverton, as a public park and a place to relax and play. The charity that holds it, The People’s Park and Recreation Grounds (registered charity 269383), has Mid Devon District Council as its trustee. Westexe Rec and Amory Park are held by Mid Devon District Council too.

We already chip in. We help pay for the paddling pool at Westexe Rec, the flower beds in People’s Park, grass cutting and Tiverton in Bloom. But we don’t own or run the parks, so there’s only so much we can do.

  • Volunteers in high-visibility vests, with two children and a small wheelbarrow, beside a sign saying Tiverton in Bloom at work today
    Tiverton in Bloom volunteers at work.
  • Volunteers weeding a shady bed beneath tall trees, with a path and lawn beyond
    Weeding the beds under the trees.
  • Pink roses in the foreground, with flower beds and a memorial stone behind them
    Roses in the Burma Star garden.
  • A smiling man leaning on a garden fork beside a freshly dug rose bed
    Cllr Wally Burke preparing the flower beds in the Burma Star garden.

What we’d love to do

We don’t just want to keep our parks as they are. We want to make them exciting places that every age group enjoys and takes pride in. Taking them on would let us:

  • put on more events through the year, building on Proms in the Park, and try new things;
  • make sure there are accessible toilets, so everyone can enjoy a day out without worrying;
  • decide how they’re looked after, and what’s in them;
  • make them places people visit Tiverton for;
  • show you clearly how and where your money is spent;
  • work hand in hand with volunteers and local charities to make the most of them.

Our draft Strategic Plan commits us to working with partners on taking on, or sharing, the running of local places like these, and to making our parks, play areas and public facilities better and easier for everyone to use.

Key facts

The parks
People’s Park (1888), Westexe Recreation Ground (1900) and Amory Park
Held by
Mid Devon District Council: People’s Park as the trustee of the charity that holds it
What we help pay for now
The paddling pool, People’s Park’s flower beds, grass cutting and Tiverton in Bloom
Stage
On the projects list
Decided so far
Nothing yet. We’re in early talks with Mid Devon District Council

What happens next

  1. 26 October to 30 November 2026 Tell us what you think, in the survey on this page.
  2. December 2026 We read every response and look at what people told us.
  3. After that We decide what to do next, and tell you here. Nothing goes ahead without coming back to you.

Questions and answers

Has this been agreed?

No. We’re in early talks with Mid Devon District Council, and no decisions have been made about taking on any of the parks. We want to know what you think first.

Would the parks still belong to everyone?

Yes. A park held in trust has to stay open to everyone, for the purpose it was given. If we took one on, we’d most likely become the charity’s trustee rather than buy the land.

Would the parks change straight away?

No. Nothing would change overnight, and what you tell us now would shape what comes first.

What about the toilets?

The toilets in the parks are closed at the moment, and that’s high on our list. We’ve already agreed to fund new toilets at Westexe Rec, and we’re looking into them now.

Will the paddling pool stay?

Yes, for now. It stays open until any future plans are confirmed, and the summer 2027 season is still planned. You can also have your say on the splash park idea.

Have your say

  • Making more of our parks: what do you think?

    Open until 7 December 2026 · About 4 minutes

    Westexe Rec, Amory Park and People’s Park are three of Tiverton’s best-loved places. We’d like to take them on, so we can look after them and make them even better. Tell us how you use them, and your number one wish for…