A MEETING to discuss ways of spending the remaining budget of £66,000 on Priory Park is to be held in early July.

A working party was appointed last year to decide what needed doing in the park and how the money should be used.

Originally, Malvern Hills District Council was looking at attracting about £375,000 worth of National Lottery funds to finance a major refurbishment of the park.

But, following public consultation and a change in the criteria for being awarded lottery money, the council decided to scrap plans for any major work and concentrate on bringing the park up to scratch.

So far, about £30,000 has been spent on park improvements, creating new footpaths and adding lights and handrails.

Now the working party is planning to meet and give a final report on ways of spending the remaining budget.

Councillor Roger Hall-Jones, a member of the working party, said they had abandoned the idea of appointing a full-time gardener because of the on-going revenue costs.

"We looked at various aspects where we thought something needed to be done. For instance, path widening. The path that leads up from the Splash to the council offices is really only a single person path.

"There are also bits of planting that need doing. We need some planting in front of the theatre and we've been looking at planting substantial shrubbery rather than forest trees.

"It's all practical work, tidying things up. We want to make sure the park is structurally in sound order and well designed for future years.

"I'm hoping we won't be spending a lot of this money, we just need to do a few things that should have been done before."