New £60,000 children's playground for Woolton Hill

Parish councillor Rebecca Dennis, who has overseen the project, said that the children’s play equipment was being replaced, as it had neared the end of its useful life and was becoming increasingly expensive to maintain.
She said that the new design would maintain interactive play for children, in line with existing equipment, but that there would be additional provision for younger age groups.
“At present there is no provision for the under-threes, apart from the swings, so equipment for this age range has been included,” said Mrs Dennis.
“We have taken considerable time asking parents and children what they would like to have in the playground.”
The new design retains old favourites, such as a roundabout, alongside new equipment, including a large climbing frame incorporating a slide, fireman’s pole, rope walks and a small climbing frame with slide.
A wooden train and tunnel, nest swing, adventure trail including cargo net, roll-over bars, monkey bars and a log walk roundabout are also included in the plans, alongside new picnic tables.
Mrs Dennis added: “We are having our swings restored, courtesy of a £1,000 grant from Hampshire County Council.”
Parish council chairman James Mitchell said that the planned design looked fabulous, and he confirmed that the cost of the new equipment would be partly funded by some £31,000 from developer’s S106 contributions that were held in a central pot by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The parish council was to make up the balance, using up about half the parish council’s reserves of £62,000. “We can afford this,” Mr Mitchell said.
Parish council clerk Caroline Cole said that the developers’ contributions included £8,187, relating to a village development by Redwoods, and a further £23,636 from Wheelwrights.
A further developer’s contribution of £23,053 from Linden Homes that was in the offing would be used, when the funds became available, to put a path around the perimeter of the recreation field, and for tennis court improvements, said Mrs Cole.
The parish council was making up the balance after unsuccessful attempts to obtain grant funding from both Greenham Common Trust and Veolia Trust. Work to install the new playground is likely to be carried out in October.
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