At the beginning of 2025 Norwich City Council was awarded £7.6m by MHCLG Levelling Up Fund to deliver health and wellbeing improvements to Sloughbottom Park and Dolphin Path.
Illustrations of Sports Hub, left, and existing pavilion by Feilden & Mawson
This project will invest in regeneration and deliver new community and sporting facilities in Sloughbottom Park to support active and healthy lifestyles, which ultimately means raising aspirations, supporting social mobility and promoting economic activity for more people in the area. Specifically, investment will include a new artificial grass football pitch, League-standard changing facilities, new lighting and pathways to improve public safety and accessibility, upgrades to the local BMX track, and storage facilities and the refurbishment of the pavilion to include a café and community room.
The much needed improvements in the design, access and physical appearance of the park will reduce anti-social behaviour, improve community safety and amenity value, thereby supporting the regeneration of Mile Cross and improving park perceptions.
New community facilities
A new artificial grass pitch
A high-quality, consistent playing surface which can be used year-round, greatly enhancing playing capacity and supporting more youth and adult matches. The new pitch will facilitate development of affiliated football in Norwich, plus allow for more youth matches, women and girls’ football, disability football and participation from lower socio-economic groups in Mile Cross and Norwich-wide.
Sports Hub
A new Sports Hub meeting the Football Foundation standards, built close to the proposed artificial grass pitch. This will include fully accessible male and female changing, club room, referee changing and an administration office. A publicly accessible changing places facility is included which will be accessible to all members of the public while the park is open.
Multi-purpose pavilion and café
Overlooking the playing fields, the existing pavilion will be refurbished as a more suitable community facility. The pavilion will serve multiple purposes: a café for all users of the park, a community room available to be booked, new public toilets and storage.
Play park
Located in front of the pavilion, the play area will be upgraded with inclusive playground equipment allowing all children to enjoy it. The surfaces within the play park area will also be improved to offer a high level of safety.
BMX track
Resurfacing the track, replacing the track’s start gate with one which offers greater safety, portable floodlights to facilitate year-round use, and purchase of a whacker plate for the Norwich Flyers BMX club located at the park to use so they are able to maintain the track.
Modular storage facilities
Providing a modular storage facility at the BMX track, for use by the Norwich Flyers and equipment storage.
Car park, paths, signage and lighting
The park’s supporting infrastructure requires improvement to facilitate better access and use. The car park will be resurfaced, with an improved entrance. Paths around the park are uneven and will be resurfaced to improve safety and accessibility. Both the car park and the central path through the park will have lighting installed to improve safety and assist in preventing anti-social behaviour. Signage will be improved throughout Sloughbottom Park.
Cycle Highway connections
Upgrades to 450m ‘Dolphin Path’ cycle path which connects the Mile Cross area into the city via National Cycle Route 1 (Marriott’s Way) to improve lighting, path surface where required and replace dilapidated boundary fencing. This will improve access to economic opportunities as well as leisure facilities. In addition, two independent bike repair stations will be installed in Sloughbottom Park.
Dolphin Path
This part of the project will invest in improvements to Dolphin Path, a cycle path which links the Mile Cross area to the city centre. It forms part of the Orange Pedalway Inner Orbital Cycle Route.
The funding will provide motion-sensitive lighting, path surface improvements, and replacement boundary fencing where required. Once complete, the Dolphin Path will connect Mile Cross into the Marriott’s Way cycle highway, which is part of National Cycle Route 1 and connects into the Norwich city centre.
FAQs
What is the project?
Norwich City Council has received funding from MHCLG Levelling Up Fund (LUF) to deliver a project to improve the Health, Wellbeing and Economic development of Mile Cross. This will be done by upgrading existing community facilities and providing a new sports hub including an Artificial Grass Pitch. The project has also received match funding from the Greater Norwich Growth Board, some of which will be used to support improvements to Dolphin Path.
See more about the Governments's Levelling Up Fund.
When will work start at the park?
The construction side of the project is due to start in Spring 2026 and is expected to complete in summer 2027.
The project team are currently working on the design.  Norwich City Council will engage with the local community on detailed designs later this year.
Will I be able to use the park while work is underway?
While the design is being progressed, one aspect Norwich City Council is looking at is how to keep areas of the park available to members of the public during construction. Understandably, not all the facilities in the park will be available all the time and areas will have to be closed to the public to ensure we keep visitors to the park safe.
We will keep you up to date on any planned closures. We hope to be able to provide temporary facilities such as toilets for the community to use during the pavilion refurbishment.
Will the new Sports Hub only be open to clubs or teams using the new football pitch?
These facilities will be available to all members of the community to book. The new sports hub will also have a Changing Places toilet accessible to all members of the public, whether using the sports hub or not.
How will the pitches be operated?
Norwich City Council is currently investigating the possible options for operating the new Sports Hub and pitch. Part of this process is considering how we ensure best value for the local community users.
This work is in its early stages, will share more details as this process progresses.
Who is going to run the Pavilion Café and Community space?
Norwich City Council are currently investigating the possible options for operating the refurbished Pavillion and Café space. Part of this process is considering how we ensure best value for the local community users. We want the pavilion to be a space the community can use and be proud of. We’re hoping that it will secure the future of the building for the community for years to come.
This work is in its early stages, we will share more details as this process progresses.
