On 17 October 2025, Park Bridge Residents’ Action Group & Fund (PBRAGF) formally adopted its constitution, marking an important milestone in our ambition to protect, celebrate and improve the place we’re proud to call home.
One year on, what started as a shared determination among local residents has grown into an active, volunteer-led community group working across three key areas: Community, Heritage and Environment.
From campaigning for the future of our historic Heritage Centre to championing safer roads, protecting our natural environment and giving residents a stronger voice, it’s certainly been a busy first year!
To celebrate our first anniversary, we’re looking back at five achievements we’re particularly proud of, while reflecting on why we came together and what we hope to achieve in the years ahead.
1. Putting the future of Park Bridge Heritage Centre firmly on the agenda
Protecting Park Bridge Heritage Centre and seeing it reopened for meaningful community use has been one of our biggest ambitions from the beginning.
Our campaign to save the Centre received more than 1,500 petition signatures, demonstrating just how much this important building means to residents and the wider community.
We’ve continued to champion its future through ongoing engagement with Tameside Council and the support of our local MP, Angela Rayner, who visited Park Bridge in February 2026 to discuss the Centre and our ambitions for the village.
We’ve also built relationships with interested organisations and worked alongside registered charity The Outdoor Collaborative to help develop a proposal that would see the building restored as a heritage and community hub.
There is still work to be done, and the future of the building has yet to be determined. However, we’re proud to have helped keep the Centre’s future firmly on the agenda and championed the importance of protecting its heritage and ensuring meaningful community access.
2. Giving Park Bridge a stronger voice on road safety
Road safety has consistently been one of the biggest concerns raised by residents.
From speeding and dangerous cut-through traffic to the deteriorating condition of our roads, we’ve worked to ensure these issues receive the attention they deserve.
Through resident surveys, independent traffic monitoring, correspondence with Tameside Council, engagement with local councillors and discussions with the Highways team, we’ve sought to build a stronger evidence base for improvements across Waggon Road, Mill Brow, Alt Lane and the wider village.
More recently, we’ve also helped highlight the dangerous sinkhole on Dean Terrace and the longstanding deterioration of the road, calling for urgent action to address the immediate hazard while continuing to press for a longer-term solution to the wider road condition.
While many of these challenges remain unresolved, we’re proud to have helped amplify residents’ concerns and ensure that road safety remains an important part of the conversation about Park Bridge’s future, and we have no plans to stop banging this drum until meaningful action is taken to addressing the risk we all face on the road through our village.
3. Taking practical action to protect our local environment
Park Bridge is fortunate to be surrounded by remarkable natural spaces, from the River Medlock to our woodlands, wildlife habitats and green spaces.
Protecting this environment has been a priority from the outset.
Over the past year, we’ve encouraged residents to get involved in community litter picks, promoted responsible enjoyment of our countryside and supported initiatives to better understand the health of our local environment.
Our participation in the Great UK WaterBlitz was a particularly exciting opportunity, with local volunteers testing sections of the River Medlock for nitrate and phosphate concentrations and contributing to a nationwide citizen science initiative.
These activities might seem small individually, but together they help build a community that actively cares for and protects the natural environment around us.
4. Listening to residents and creating opportunities to get involved
From the beginning, we’ve believed that the people who live in and care about Park Bridge should have a meaningful voice in its future.
Our Park Bridge Pulse surveys have helped us better understand local priorities, identify concerns and gather ideas about how our village could be improved.
We’ve also established a dedicated website, regular newsletters and community communications to keep residents informed, encourage discussion and create opportunities for people to contribute.
Whether it’s completing a survey, attending a meeting, taking part in a community activity or sharing a concern, every contribution helps shape our priorities.
We’re particularly proud that we’ve created a platform for residents to be heard and a way for people to work together towards shared goals.
5. Bringing people together for Park Bridge
Perhaps our proudest achievement of all has been bringing people together around a shared ambition for Park Bridge.
Over the past year, we’ve built relationships with residents, local councillors, our MP, community organisations, charities and other stakeholders who share an interest in protecting and improving our area.
We’ve seen people generously volunteer their time, share their expertise, support campaigns, contribute ideas and offer encouragement.
We’ve also worked to strengthen connections between local residents and organisations, recognising that Park Bridge’s future depends on collaboration rather than any one individual or group.
What started as a shared concern for our village has become a growing network of people who care deeply about its future.
And that, more than anything, is something worth celebrating.
Why we came together and what we’re working towards
While the campaign to protect Park Bridge Heritage Centre was an important driving force behind our formation, our ambitions have always extended beyond any single building or issue.
We established Park Bridge Residents’ Action Group & Fund because we recognised the need for an organised, independent, community-led voice that could represent local interests, champion improvements and help protect the things that make Park Bridge special.
As a constituted, volunteer-led group, we also wanted to create a way to raise and manage funds for practical improvements, community activities and projects that benefit the area.
Our purpose is simple: to protect, celebrate and improve Park Bridge for the people who live here, visit and enjoy it, both today and for future generations.
Our work is guided by three core pillars:
Community
To support a safe, welcoming and connected village where residents have a voice, local concerns are taken seriously and people have opportunities to come together.
This includes championing road safety, supporting community activities, encouraging volunteering and working constructively with local authorities and other organisations to secure improvements.
Heritage
To protect, celebrate and promote Park Bridge’s extraordinary industrial, social and cultural heritage.
From safeguarding the future of the Heritage Centre to encouraging greater awareness of our village’s history, we want to ensure that Park Bridge’s unique story is preserved, shared and enjoyed by future generations.
Park Bridge’s industrial heritage is nationally significant, and we aim to make sure that’s recognised.
Environment
To protect and enhance the natural environment that makes Park Bridge such a special place.
This includes caring for our green spaces and waterways, supporting biodiversity, encouraging responsible use of the countryside and creating opportunities for residents to take part in practical environmental projects.
Looking ahead: Turning ambition into action
Our first year has demonstrated both the opportunities and challenges facing Park Bridge.
There is still much to do. The future of the Heritage Centre remains to be secured, road safety continues to be a significant concern, and there are further opportunities to protect and enhance our local environment.
We also recognise that meaningful, long-term change requires more than enthusiasm and determination. It requires investment, resources and funding.
One of the reasons we formally established PBRAGF as a constituted community group was to create a structure through which we could apply for grants, receive funding and raise money to support projects that benefit Park Bridge.
We’re currently working to make it easier for residents, visitors and supporters to contribute through donations, alongside exploring grant funding and other opportunities to support our work.
Transparency and accountability will be central to how we manage these funds. We want our community to understand how money is raised, where it is spent and the positive impact it has on Park Bridge.
We’re also realistic about where we are as an organisation. As a relatively new, volunteer-led group, we don’t yet have an established track record of delivering large-scale, capital-funded projects. We recognise that securing significant investment takes time, experience, strong partnerships and the confidence of potential funders.
That’s something we want to build towards.
By starting with smaller, achievable projects, we have an opportunity to demonstrate what we can deliver, develop our experience of managing funding responsibly and build the credibility needed to pursue more ambitious opportunities in the future.
Whether that’s raising funds for additional litter bins, supporting a road safety awareness campaign with improved signage, or purchasing equipment to help keep volunteers safe during community litter picks, these are the kinds of practical projects that can make a genuine difference to our village.
Of course, any improvements involving public highways or land managed by other organisations would need to be developed in partnership with the relevant authorities.
And while larger ambitions, such as securing a sustainable future for the Heritage Centre, will require significant investment and collaboration, we believe there is real value in making smaller improvements along the way.
Small steps can lead to lasting change, and every successful project helps build the foundations for something bigger.
As we enter our second year, our focus will be on building that momentum: strengthening our partnerships, exploring funding opportunities, welcoming more volunteers and turning the priorities identified by residents into meaningful action.
Our ambition isn’t simply to respond to problems as they arise, but to help shape a positive, sustainable future for Park Bridge.
And with the continued support of our community, we’re excited about what we can achieve together.
A thank you to our community
None of this would have been possible without the support, enthusiasm and generosity of the people who care about Park Bridge.
To everyone who has signed a petition, completed a survey, attended a meeting, joined a litter pick, volunteered their time, shared an idea, helped spread the word or simply offered a few words of encouragement… thank you.
We also want to recognise the local organisations, councillors, partners and supporters who have engaged with us and contributed to our work over the past year.
We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together, but we’re even more excited about what comes next.
Here’s to another year of protecting our heritage, championing our community and caring for our environment.