Ribble Valley is fast-tracking a £6.7 million investment program to bring all 18 council-owned play areas into “tip-top condition” within just two years.
Work has already finished at Salthill play area in Clitheroe. Meanwhile, installation is underway at Hawthorne Place (Clitheroe), and John Smith’s (Longridge) has been stripped out, with a three-week refurbishment scheduled to begin shortly.
The Hawthorne Place play area will feature a variety of play experiences for up to 30 users aged one to 14. It will include an agility course, ball zone and family seating area with sensory planters.
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The John Smith’s play area will boast a host of features for up to 70 children aged up to eight. Many of the features will be accessible to toddlers and wheelchair users, including a pirate ship, multi-play station with several access points and six-sided jumper, along with new surfacing.
Every one of the borough’s 18 council-owned play areas will receive improvements, including complete revamps at sites like Salthill and John Smith’s, and a whole new play area built at Edisford riverbank next year.
The play area cash boost is part of a £6.7million bonanza for sports, leisure and recreation – the Ribble Valley Borough Council’s biggest and most ambitious capital programme since it was formed in 1974.
This massive spend was fast-tracked after councillors unanimously agreed to slash the proposed timetable from five years to just two, ensuring the funds are spent locally now.
Stuart Hirst, chairman of Ribble Valley Borough Council’s community services committee, said: “Given uncertainty around the future of local government we want to make sure that our resources are spent locally.
“So, we have decided to be ambitious with our capital programme, by reducing five-year schedules to two and bringing forward some schemes already approved in principle.
“Our reserves have been modestly accrued over many years and, whatever the future holds for Ribble Valley, councillors across the chamber are united in their view that they be spent entirely for the benefit of the borough’s current and future residents.
“And what better way to do that than to invest in the borough’s play areas, each and every one of them, for our children to enjoy for years to come.”
The programmes other major allocations include: £3 million for Ribblesdale Swimming Pool, £1.7 million for Clitheroe Castle features, £550,000 for the castle keep, and £1.45 million for all-weather sports pitches at a site yet to be confirmed.
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