Burneside playground reopens as Kendal pump track and Windermere skatepark move forward

Families can use the refurbished Hall Park playground in Burneside again, while plans for new outdoor activity facilities in Kendal and Windermere move closer to delivery.

The update appears in Westmorland and Furness Council’s Quarter 1 corporate performance report, covering 1 April to 30 June 2026, which went to Cabinet on 8 September. The council described the reopening of Hall Park as “a major milestone” for the quarter.

Burneside is around two miles north of Kendal. Hall Park has three separate play areas listed by the council, all at postcode LA9 6QF and all classified as small local playgrounds.

Windermere skatepark enters procurement

The largest of the projects highlighted in the report is a replacement skatepark at Queen’s Park in Windermere. It is now described as being in the procurement and delivery phase, alongside a separate project at Hawthorn Gardens in Kendal, listed at LA9 6FG.

Queen’s Park is described in the former South Lakeland area’s playground strategy as the only destination playground with both a pump track and a skate park. Its existing skatepark is more than 25 years old, with modular metal and wood ramps.

Windermere Park for All says the current ramps are outdated and “do not cater for children with different physical abilities”. The proposed replacement would be a concrete bowl for skateboarders, scooter riders and roller skaters. A specialist concrete skatepark contractor would design and project-manage the work, with input from local riders.

The council says “additional funding for the project has been secured through the National Lottery and fundraising efforts led by the Windermere Park for All Group”. The source material says the amount of National Lottery funding and the relevant fund could not be confirmed.

Windermere Park for All has published several grants since launching its skatepark appeal on 9 February 2026. These include £2,000 from The Hadfield Trust and £5,000 from South Lakes Housing on 3 April; £5,000 from Westmorland and Furness Council’s Children and Young People Grant on 13 May; and support announced on 10 June from the Bryan Lancaster Trust, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria’s Community Fund, and the Cumbria Home From Home Fund and Matson Ground Fund, both through Cumbria Community Foundation.

The group’s chair, Ben Berry, said: “I grew up on Matson Ground and played on my skateboard there, so it feels really special that funding connected with the place I grew up is now helping create somewhere my own children, and many other local children, will be able to skate.”

The group has not published a fundraising target, running total or construction date. Its wider campaign began in early 2017 and previously raised £120,000 for a new Queen’s Park playground and £50,000 for a pump track. Both were officially opened in November 2021. The skatepark is described as the campaign’s third phase.

Kendal pump track has no confirmed site or date

The council report says work on a permanent Kendal pump track is advancing. Equivalent schemes in Barrow and Penrith remain dependent on funding being confirmed.

Kendal Town Council says it has long supported a permanent pump track and points to consultation and the success of a pop-up track at the previous year’s cycling festival. It is working with Westmorland and Furness Council to deliver the project.

Neither council has publicly announced a site or opening date. Kendal’s existing skatepark is at Beezon Fields, LA9 6BL.

What happens next

Hall Park is currently the only one of the four highlighted facilities available for use. The Kendal and Windermere projects remain at stages where funding and contracts are being settled, and no public completion date has been committed.

Windermere Park for All is continuing its fundraising appeal as a community group rather than a council department. The council’s playground strategy says sites should be prioritised “based on community needs, usage levels, and safety”. It also sets out the provision across the former South Lakeland area, listing 57 playgrounds, including 24 under a Kendal address, five at Windermere and Troutbeck, three at Ambleside and two at Grasmere.