Town council criticised over £23,000 Victoria Park 'makeover' plans

The work will involve replacing the three benches around the pond with six new benches at a cost of £602 per bench.
The 65 lime trees either side of the two footpaths would also be pruned at a cost of £19,562.
Newbury Town Council says it does not have enough money in its repair and maintenance budget and has recommended taking £20,000 from its reserves to meet the cost.
The news was met with criticism by some people posting on Newbury Today’s Facebook page.
Rosa Foulger said: “Amazed it costs that much money to trim trees and replace a few benches!!!”
Julie Barlow agreed, saying: “Outrageous amount of money!”
Those concerns were echoed by Becca Harriss, who added: “Are the benches gold plated?!”
However, town council leader Julian Swift-Hook defended the cost.
He said: “Pollarding is costly, as any homeowner with large trees in their garden will tell you. In addition, protecting the safety of both the public and the contractor’s staff as the work is carried out is of course of paramount importance and adds significantly to the cost.
“By putting the work out to competitive tender as we normally do for jobs of this size, and selecting the best of the four tenders received, I’m convinced that the town council has achieved the best value for money for Newbury for this essential work.”
Regarding the cost of the benches, he added: “I know that benches in the park get used a lot throughout the Spring, Summer and Autumn, so they need to be able to withstand heavy use for many years to come, with the minimum of maintenance.
“The cost of each bench and concrete pad is very competitive, and is considerably less than the costs being quoted by other councils.
“The new benches will provide much needed additional public seating in the park, and will last us for many years.”
Pollarding the trees is likely to take place in February 2015 as birds are expected to nest in the trees in March.
The work will take place for a minimum of two weeks and one footpath will be closed at a time to minimise disruption.
The town council said it had been told by the district council’s tree officer that the works needed to be completed next year as the trees had reached a height which could pose a risk to public safety.