A £122,000 project to create a playground and recreation area next to a community centre is taking shape.

Work has started to transform a patch of mud next to Bolton Woods Community Centre in Livingston Road, into a community garden.

It will be landscaped and include children’s play equipment. The area will also have an entrance feature, paths suitable for wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs, picnic benches and seating, and trees, flowers and shrubs to encourage wildlife.

Work started at the beginning of December and is set to be completed by April.

Cath Taylor, community development worker at the centre, said: “It’s great that this project is under way and taking shape. The completed community space will be great for the local community and will provide a place where people of all ages can relax and unwind.”

Residents living near the site have contributed to the planning and design of the community area.

Groundwork held consultation sessions and developed links with locals to find their views. The group also worked with a team of young people to develop ideas for the space through design workshops and photography sessions.

It had been part of Bradford Council’s programme of works funded through the Government’s Playbuilder Grants. But funding through the scheme was reduced when the grant scheme was scaled back.

The scheme is being led by Bolton Woods Community Centre Association and project managed by Groundwork Leeds, supported by Bradford Council’s parks and landscape services.

The work will cost £122,558 and funding has come from sources including the Big Lottery Fund’s Community Spaces programme, Bradford Council and The Veolia Environmental Trust, which awarded a grant through the Landfill Communities Fund.

Councillor Vanda Greenwood (Lab, Windhill and Wrose) said: “The work has now started and they are making excellent progress. It is a well-needed facility around Bolton Woods – the residents have been asking for something like this for a long, long time – and there is a really positive feel.

“All the kids are really excited and can’t wait for it to be completed.”