A RUN-down play park in Middlewich will be pulled down and built up again after residents voiced their concern.

The issue was raised on the Middlewich Community Group on the social media website Facebook and created enough noise for the town council to respond with action.

Alison Roylance-White, Action Plan Manager for Middlewich Vision, said: “We are aware of the comments on Facebook and we have reopened talks to move the park on Sycamore Drive much further up our list of priorities.”

Theresa Kay, Middlewich resident, posted about her discontent over the park on the group, describing it as ‘badly in need of refurbishment, dangerous and filthy’.
The post received more than 40 comments in support.

Theresa, describing the park on the group, said: “Uneven ground, hazardous with raised areas which is a nightmare for tipping on. Bench is rotten, equipment old and tired, dog poo on the grass, safety flooring non-existent, broken glass and no real path leading to the gate – just mud. Awful.”

The town council group Middlewich Vision are now looking to act on building a new park at Sycamore Drive but say that although they are hoping to start as soon as possible the talks are in an early stage.

Alison Roylance-White added: “I think the main thing is to assure people that it is a priority for us and we have had talks and moved it much further up our agenda.

“We are currently looking at refurbishing a long list of play areas to add to Moss Drive and Booth Lane which have already been renovated have both gone down really well with the residents.

“The park at Sycamore Drive is now high up on the list and we have been to take photos of the park and assess what we are going to do and how much money we will need to invest into the refurbishment.

“The work we are looking to do will consist of basically taking everything out and building the park up again from scratch, which will probably cost at least £50,000.”

The group has a mission to work through every play area in Middlewich and look to make a positive impact on each one.

Alison Roylance-White said: “Some are in better state than others but none had met the aspirational standards we hope to achieve.”