Dilapidated Shrewsbury play areas in line for revamp

The council owns and manages 41 play parks, six BMX tracks, seven multi-user games areas, two skate parks and the Quarry Splash Park, and members must decide annually which to prioritise for refurbishments over the coming year.

Four sites have been identified following safety inspections and the council’s leisure and recreation committee met on Wednesday evening to sign off the projects.

While the town council will fund some of the work itself, the biggest overhaul is planned for Upton Lane play area and BMX track, thanks to a substantial contribution from Cornovii Developments Ltd, Shropshire Council’s housing company.

The money has been agreed as part of the planning consent for Cornovii to redevelop the site of the former Crowmoor House residential home in Frith Close into housing.

The council’s operations manager Gary Farmer said: “Upton Lane play area has really needed refurbishment for many, many years.

“It’s got low equipment in it and it’s really focusing on toddlers. We would like to focus more on juniors and teenagers so it might be that we need some more challenging play equipment for that facility, and this might be an area away from a toddler facility.

“Linking to that is the BMX track. It’s really well used and valued.

“There are some anti-social problems there with the track being close to properties, so we need to look at relocating that.”

Mr Farmer suggested that the town council “front-load” the project to get the work done, with the money then repaid by the developer contribution in the future

Councillor David Vasmer said: “It does look a bit neglected at the moment and it would be great to get some improved facilities there.”

Councillor Pam Moseley said: “The BMX track is well-used and it is in quite a deteriorated condition. The positioning of it has also caused anti-social behaviour for the school and the residents.

“The play area is looking very tired and it has a very limited age range.”

Concerns

Councillor Moseley said around £135,000 was expected to come from Cornovii to fund the new play area and BMX track as well as other improvements in the locality.

The play area in Mary Webb Road has also been identified as being in need of a full upgrade, after concerns about the state of the equipment were flagged up by Councillor Gwen Burgess.

Mr Farmer said: “There have been problems there with security fencing and the play area has not been upgraded since the town council was formed.

“We would like your support with a full refurbishment. It was down that we were just going to replace the fencing, but we don’t feel that’s appropriate – the whole area needs refurbishing.

“I know Councillor Burgess has got a lot of young mums that are really interested in making a contribution here and going to to the community to see exactly what they want.”

Councillor Burgess said: “I really welcome what Gary is saying about the playground, it’s needed work for a long time and I think a lot of residents are really going to welcome it.

“We have got quite a strong community thing going on about what people would like there and I look forward to working with Gary and the town council in deciding what goes in there.”

Another area in need of work is Harlescott Grange Recreation Ground on Kynaston Road. Drainage improvements are to be made to prevent the play area flooding before equipment can be refurbished, and replacement ramps will be installed at the skate park following consultation with users and the town’s youth services.

Councillor Ioan Jones said: “With the closure of the Flaxmill facility and the ramps there, more and more youngsters who were using the Flaxmill are turning up at Kynaston Road.

“The sooner we can look at getting these ramps repaired and back in to a safe condition would be appreciated.”

The final project is the replacement of some of the play equipment at Greenacres Recreation Ground in Harlescott Lane.