Playing Field Project

Published: 29 September 2026

As some of you will have seen already, the old container has been successfully removed. Thank you to everyone who heeded the request to stay clear of the access to the field on the day it was removed. All in all, it went really well and the removal was completed in just over an hour. We have now placed our order for the new Community Event Centre. Those of you who came along to the original coffee morning will remember the planned layout, but if you haven't seen it, we are getting a large meeting area, with kitchen facilities and an accessible toilet. We're requested several windows as well as a wide entry door to help make it feel light and airy. Build and configuration will take a while, but we are expecting delivery of the new unit in early February but will keep you updated on progress as it gets closer.

In the meantime, thank you again to everyone who provided feedback on the survey form. We had a lots of ideas and the working group spent a lot of time going through it. We decided early on that we wanted to see what things we could do alongside the current Playing Field project, and so as we went through the ideas it became obvious that some things could be relatively simple to do, some things will be more complex and need more consideration, and some things are going to need significant amounts of research, resource, and finance. We're pleased to say that the most recent meeting of the Parish Council validated our plan to continue working on the 'first tier' items - which include improvements to the children's play area, including an accessible swing, looking at a modest paved area around the new facility once it has been installed, additional lighting, more picnic style benches, and looking at improving accessibility to the play area and via the gate at Alan Powell lane.

 We're also going to continue to research some of our initial findings on things like basketball area, cricket nets, football goals, and outdoor equipment. There are some items that we are not going to be able to take forward at this time because of initial cost and ongoing maintenance - and this includes a 3G football pitch (which has a life of 8-12 years and has an initial cost in excess of £400,000), and padel courts (initial cost between £45,000 - £65,000, and difficult to secure against vandalism). However, we will still keep these suggestions on the list should a future opportunity arise.