TATTON Park has received almost £4 million of council funding to upgrade its facilities – with plans for the much talked about BeWILDerwood attraction seemingly off the table.

Cheshire East Council is likely to give the green light for an overhaul of Tatton Dale Farm’s ‘Field to Fork’ project in an attempt to bring in more visitors, using money from the £3.8 million capital bid designated for the park in this year's budget.

The authority warned that 'to do nothing' for Tatton this year could mean visitors dropping and the estate suffering a 'downward spiral'.

But in the most recent report, there is no mention of plans for BeWILDerwood, a playground planned in an area of Tatton Park, which were already thrown into doubt in March 2015 when Cheshire East said it would not lend developers the £5.5 million needed to build the attraction.

The historic estate currently contributes more than £8.8 million to the local economy, which council officials believe could be improved by approving the ‘Field to Fork’ project, which would showcase two centuries of farming history at Tatton Park.

As the Guardian went to press on Tuesday, the council's cabinet was expected to recommend the proposals to go ahead with the project.

The business case, presented to cabinet members, said: “In essence this is a ground-breaking project which will reposition Tatton Park’s farm from a young-family orientated animal petting farm to a heritage centred attraction which engages not just a greater number of visitors but also a wider range of audiences with the agricultural, architectural, technological, social and cultural heritage integral to the site.

“This will be achieved through a capital works programme including opening up the agricultural feed mill and restoring its machinery (as well as other closed buildings); the construction of a new multi-functional group space building; a cutting-edge, site wide re-interpretation design alongside a high quality interactive activity programme of participative learning for all.”

The project has already received £76,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which has also approved a grant of £974,000 towards the capital project.

The report discussed at cabinet said: “To do nothing at this stage would likely result in a downward spiral for the attraction as visitor numbers reduce resulting in lower future income generation and potentially impact on delivery of the Council’ lease obligations with the National Trust.”

Cheshire East Council leases and manages Tatton Park on a 99 year lease from the National Trust.

Pick up next week’s Guardian for updates on the outcome.