New playground and outside table tennis table delivered

New Churwell Park Children's Playground

This is the new Churwell Park children’s playground which is opened to the public for the first time today. It is an excellent scheme and incorporates many of the proposals that came through the public consultation process. The park has been financed through Section 106 Developer contributions but has taken slightly longer that planned to deliver. It is an excellent new children’s play area which the community has been campaigning for many years and will accommodate the wishes of both younger and older children. We are grateful for the patience of local residents who have had to wait for a significant time for the playground to be refurbished but we are sure that when they use the playground they will accept it was well worth waiting for!

On a separate matter we have also delivered a permanent outside table tennis table for ping pong enthusiasts next to Scatcherd Park. The table is a permanent and robust one and follows a successful pilot programme last year where residents were able to play table tennis outside at nil cost. The project was jointly funded by the Town and City Councils and aims to get people – both young and old – to get more active and to play table tennis outside for free. We are encouraging everyone to bring their own bats and balls and to give the new table a good work out.

Both schemes have taken a great deal of work to deliver and I am grateful for the support of my MBI colleagues on both the Town and City Councils for putting in the effort to deliver two brilliant projects that initially stemmed from the local community. We are community politicians and we listen to the communities we represent. Perhaps other political party’s – especially those involve in the EU referendum - could learn from this approach!