RSPB flies away for winter as work starts on Fairhaven Lake refurb

The Pagoda, which has housed the RSPB at Fairhaven Lake, is among the heritage buildings being refurbished

It follows the award of £1.5m National Lottery Heritage Funding in December 2018 and is expected to be completed by the spring/summer of next year.

The Fairhaven Lake and Garden Restoration project aims to conserve and restore Fairhaven’s heritage buildings and landscape, improve the lake’s infrastructure and water quality, and provide a new programme of events.

New information boards will help visitors better understand Fairhaven’s heritage.

Other funding bodies contributing to the overall project include Fylde Council, Sport England and Lancashire Environmental Fund.

The work means the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ presence at the Lake has flown away for the winter as the Pagoda building which has been home to the charity’s Discovery Centre is among the buildings to be renovated. It aims to reopen there in March.

The main path in front of the Lake was closed from Monday from the Pagoda to the café for health and safety while the contractor undertakes the building restoration works, with alternative routes available.

Fylde Council says the building and landscape works will be delivered through two main contracts.

The first, worth £1.2m, has been awarded to John Turner Construction Group Ltd, to restore the three heritage buildings on site, Pagoda, Watersports Centre and Café, along with landscape works on the north side of the Lake.

The second package of works has been awarded to Horticon Ltd for £158,000, to carry out the restoration of the Japanese Gardens and complete the circular pathway around the entire perimeter of the lake.

Coun Cheryl Little, Fylde Council’s tourism and leisure chairman, said: “As residents and visitors are already seeing the benefits from the huge investment and the continuing redevelopment of the Fairhaven Lake, we are now ready for the next stage, while other facilities in the park remain open, including the recently opened Adventure Golf course and Adventure Play facilities;

“I hope you share our excitement for the next phase of the transformation of one of the Council’s best loved assets.”