In 1974, the newly formed Wokingham Borough Council took responsibility for the area, and started planning land use at Dinton Pastures. It was decided that the small lakes would be of little use for recreation but would be excellent for wildlife generation and conservation. Only Black Swan Lake was large enough for boating, but powerboats would be banned because of the fragility of the lakeshore. Although Black Swan Lake had been well stocked with fish, fishing and boating were seen as incompatible. Fishing was therefore developed on White Swan Lake and the River Loddon. Use of the land was limited because less than half the site was actually land (101 acres out of the 223 acre site), and much of that was fragile artificial land around the old gravel pits. Because of this, no formal recreation was planned. In fact, even horse riding was banned. This was considered no real problem though as the majority of visitors to country parks come to walk or picnic and any further development could have reduced public access to the site.
In 1978 Wokingham Borough Council finally completed the purchase of the 230 site for £150,000, that's nearly half a million pounds in today's money, and began development. A country park manager was appointed and work started on tree planting, trail laying, access roads, car parking, fencing, and building of toilet facilities.
In 1980 building began at the site. It was agreed that two centres were necessary for the park, one for formal activities (water sports and golf) and one for informal recreation. Although cost estimates showed that it would be £20,000 cheaper to put both centres in the same location this would cause traffic congestion and detract from the enjoyment of Black Swan Lake by the general public. It was therefore decided to build a water sports centre and golf clubhouse to the north of the site and an informal centre to the south. Attention was paid to the positioning of the car park and bridge over the Emm Brook when designing facilities at the formal centre in order to ease movement between the centre and the lake, and the golf club shop and first tee. The informal centre, consisting of a cafeteria, an interpretation/display area, toilets, a lecture room and office for the Country Park was planned in the existing farmhouse.
In 1984 work began reconstructing old farm barns in the south of the site to cater for educational needs of the sites, providing a workshop and field study centre. A children's play area followed shortly, along with a footbridge over the River Loddon, allowing better access to the site for people living in the Woodley area.
Dinton now
Things have come along way since, with Wokingham Borough Council's Countryside Service and Dinton Pastures celebrating their 20th Anniversary in 1999. The park now receives around 500,000 visitors a year, and has a full school programme in the spring/summer term reaching about 4,500 school children. Facilities today at the site include a café, exhibition centre, workshops, education room, access trail providing suitable paths for wheelchairs and pushchairs, and halls for hire. An extensive events programme runs throughout the year, appealing to all ages and a variety of interests.
