Path installed to connect neighbourhood to school
Published
Friday 13 November, 2026
Updated
Friday 13 November, 2026
Children and parents can safely get to school after Swale Borough Council created a footpath through the woodland in Faversham.
The council has invested £20,000 from the UK Government’s Pride in Place Impact Fund (PIPIF) to create a surfaced footpath linking Whiting Cresent and Wildish Road.
The almost 100m path creates an accessible route for parents and children to travel to and from the Bysing Wood Primary School and their homes through the council’s woodland.
Community engagement, including a petition from residents, helped guide the project and make sure the funding positively impact on the local communities’ lives.
This new footpath forms one part of the council’s a £1.5 million government funded investment into Swale’s leisure centres, green spaces and community infrastructure.
The programme includes improvements to Faversham’s open spaces and creating a new changing village at Faversham Pools.
Sittingbourne town centre has also received funding, including the refurbishment of the public toilets in the Central Avenue Car Park breathing new life intothe well-used toilets.
The works included replacing or repairing the walls, flooring, ceiling and roof, renovating the windows, refurbishing the cubicles and toilets, and installing new energy-efficient LED lighting.
The new baby changing facilities installed in the women’s, men’s, and disabled toilets, makes it easier for Swale’s families to visit Sittingbourne High Street.
Funding is set aside to improve Stones Farm Countryside Gap, the council’s new green space, and King George V Playing Field with improvements to the pavilion to support ongoing community use.
The funding is also being used to further improve Beachfields, building on the investment being made as part of the government funded Sheerness Revival project.
This includes the ongoing full refurbishment of the popular paddling pool area, seeing the rubber crumb flooring around the pool replaced, the pool itself resurfaced, new doors on the storerooms installed, and the surrounding walls repainted.
This, alongside repairs to the water plant equipment which keeps the pool clean, will refresh the area creating a pleasant place for your children to swim while parents enjoy the sun and the seaside breeze.
The council’s CCTV service is also benefiting from this investment.
Cllr Monique Bonney, chair of the committee, said:
“We wanted to make sure that this Pride in Place Impact funding is used across the borough on projects that will have a long-lasting positive impact for our residents.
“Locals helped us identify the need for this path, helping connect neighbourhoods with their school making active travel safer and easier for parents and their children.
“This investment into our local infrastructure is just one part of the wider programme which includes improvements to our leisure facilities, town centres and green spaces.”
