A “LEAP of faith” by councillors has taken Norton’s Mary Stevens Park a step closer to a £2.5m upgrade.

Members of Stourbridge Area Committee voted to make £125,000 available for Dudley Council to enter the second round of a bidding process for Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) cash.

To get the millions, Dudley has to provide £624,000 in match funding and members were asked to approve a plan to include the £125,000, which is already set aside for repairs to the park gates from the committee’s capital budget and the Ernest Stevens Trust.

Cllr Les Jones told the meeting: “It is worth taking a bit of a leap of faith, this is the most prestigious park in the borough of Dudley.

“For the sake of £125,000 we are potentially giving away £2.5m to spend on the park, it’s a no brainer.”

The council has been granted funding by HLF to spend on developing their second round bid and Cllr Jones pointed out the committee’s money would only be used if the bid was successful.

He added if the bid failed, the £125,000 would still be spent on restoration of the park gates, so their future was “secure”.