Haringey Borough Council is one step closer applying for a £6.3m Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant for the regeneration of Tottenham's Lordship Recreation Ground, in London.

The council has already allocated £311,000 and secured an HLF development grant worth £235,000 to fund the application. The bid will go to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund's (BIG) national Parks for People programme.

If successful, the 1930s park will be re-landscaped and will acquire a new, carbon neutral city farm and environmental centre offering a range of curricular and extra-curricular courses to support the government's eco-schools initiative which aims to make every school sustainable by 2020.

A council spokesperson said: "The park has been failing to meet its status as a district park since the 1980s due to reduced, tired facilities and a lack of funding". Through regenerating the park the council hopes to secure a Green Flag award and a seven-fold increase in visitor numbers - from 55,000 to 355,000 per year.

As well as improvements to the park's landscape, which include new pathways, trees, a better drainage system and lake, the River Moselle which runs through the park will be uncovered. The Shell Theatre and model traffic area, which was used to teach children road safety, will also be restored along with facilities for cycling proficiency training.

Cllr Dhiren Basu, said "This ambitious scheme has the potential to benefit hundred of thousands of residents, we believe these proposals would breathe new life into the park and reassert its position at the heart of the Tottenham community.

The scheme would also help us in our drive to make young people more aware of the importance of looking after the environment, particularly through the city farm and environmental centre."

Before the bid is made in November 2009, the council will seek a further £2m from external funding sources. If successful, it expects the improvement work to begin and be completed in 2011.