The London Borough of Newham has announced a £15m investment in leisure facilities and parks.

The investment will benefit 16 projects across the borough, upgrading existing facilities and introducing several new developments over the next year.

Central Park in East Ham is receiving a £1.9m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the scheme, which will be used for a whole park restoration of landscape garden features, new play equipment and a refurbishment of the café and toilets. Work is set to begin this autumn for completion in mid-2009.

Newham Leisure Centre will see the creation of the Newham Sports Hub with three seven a side floodlit “third generation” football pitches, improved car parking, improved lighting and CCTV. An indoor athletics centre will also be constructed to provide sports facilities for athletes of all abilities.

Construction has begun on the project, which Newham council is funding in partnership with GLL, Sport England, London Marathon Charitable Trust, Big Lotto, UK Athletics, Sports Lotto and the Jack Petchy Foundation.

Work is also underway on the UK’s first covered floodlit multiuse games area and jogging track in Stratford Park, and the facility will open this summer. The public will have free access to the site, which has been funded by Newham council in partnership with the London Development Agency (LDA) and Sport England.

Construction has also begun on the Sandal Street Open Space development in Stratford, which will feature a new resource centre for children and young people, a new floodlit multiuse games area, play area refurbishment and landscape improvements, to be completed later this year. Newham council is partnering with Community Links and Newham Homes on the project.

A new floodlit multiuse games area at Keir Hardie Recreation Ground, funded by the council, Canning Town and Custom House Regeneration team and the Keir Hardie Neighbourhood group, will be completed shortly.

A high rope activity venue at Canning Town Recreation Ground on Freemasons Road is being constructed in partnership with Community Links, and is set to open soon.

Canning Town’s former Beckton lido site will be transformed into parkland, with landscape improvements and new entrances. Transport for London and Community Links are partnering with the council on the project.

Work has begun at Flanders Field in East Ham to create a new changing pavilion and additional community space. A second phase, constructed in partnership with Bonny Downs Community Association with funding from the Football Foundation, will see the addition of a floodlit artificial pitch.

Improvements to Memorial Park in West Ham, conducted in partnership with New Deal for Communities, will include the creation of two new changing pavilions, grass pitch improvements, an artificial full-size floodlit pitch for football and rugby and improved entrances.

Play facilities at Forest Lane, Chandos, Brampton and King George V parks will all see renewal, with funding from the LDA, the Big Lottery Fund and the council, in conjunction with Friends of Forest Lane and Brampton Park, Chandos Community Centre and Friends of City Farm.

Improvements to Newham’s leisure centres, including the installation of new gym equipment and the redecoration of changing areas and fitness areas, have already been completed in partnership with Greenwich Leisure Limited as part of the scheme.

Newham council has introduced the £15m investment as part of its LIVE LIFE initiative to encourage the community to get involved in sport and physical activity.

Councillor Jo Corbett, executive member for culture, said: “This investment is part of the pre-2012 legacy that will benefit the whole community and make Newham a place where people choose to live, work and stay.”