Hesketh Park is set to get a free outdoor gym with 12 machines, from a rowing station to a cross trainer. The £80,000 plan goes to a council committee tonight.

Hesketh Park is set to get a free outdoor gym. The council plans to put 12 pieces of fitness equipment on the park’s orchard and wildflower area, at a cost of £80,000.

Councillors on the Deeds, Trusts and Obligations Committee are asked to approve it at their meeting tonight, Tuesday 27 October, at 7pm. The park is a charity, and the council is its trustee, which is why this committee decides. The recommendation is in the committee’s report.

What the gym will have

The equipment will be set into a safety surface. The report lists:

  • a Super Combi 3 multi-station
  • a horizontal row
  • a squat station
  • a knee extension
  • a chest press
  • a triple jump
  • a city bike
  • a cross trainer
  • an arm bike
  • a sit-up bench
  • a balance station
  • a surface challenge

A large sign will explain how to use each piece. The council says the gym “will be free to use by anyone”.

Why the orchard area

The council says the orchard and wildflower area “has not been entirely successful”. The planting has been slow to grow, and the trees “have been frequently vandalised”. The gym would go in the middle of that space, with the trees and wildflowers kept around its inner edge.

Who is paying, and when

The council is paying the full £80,000, and will also pay for inspections and maintenance afterwards. The money was set aside in the budget agreed in February 2026. Planning permission is not needed, because the equipment stays under the height and size limits.

The report says the gym would be installed in 2026. It does not give a start date.

Kompan, which has done most of the council’s playground work over the past four years, would supply and fit it.

The last project in the playground programme

Hesketh Park’s gym is the final project in a four-year programme of playground refurbishments that ends in 2026/27. The programme has already added two outdoor gyms, at Central Park and Worcester Park.

The same meeting will look at the park charity’s accounts. Dartford Cricket Club leases the cricket pitch until 2042, and a rent review is raising its rent from £5,000 to £6,176 a year. That pushes the charity’s income over £5,000, so it will have to register with the Charity Commission before 31 March 2027, according to the committee’s Hesketh Park report.

Hesketh Park is one of the borough’s two big parks. It has play areas, a ball court, a teen zone, a fenced dog area and Dartford Cricket Club. Our guide to Dartford playgrounds and parks has entrances and gate times.

What it means for you

  • It will be free, with no booking and no membership.
  • The gates lock early in winter. Hesketh Park’s gates open at 6.30am and lock from 5.15pm in November, December and January, according to the council’s opening times on our playgrounds page.
  • The orchard trees stay, around the edge of the gym area.
  • For more free exercise outdoors, our walks near Dartford page has routes across the borough.

We will report the committee’s decision, and the installation date once the council gives one.

Sources