PLANS for an £85,000 upgrade of a Monmouth playground could be put on hold if the county council listens to the town’s councillors.

Monmouth Town Council’s community affairs committee agreed by six votes to two to ask Monmouthshire County Council to extend the consultation on the plans for Chippenham playground from the end of March to the end of May. 

More than 500 people have signed a petition to ‘Move Monmouth playground away from the A40 and choose a better site on Chippenham Mead.’ Reasons cited in support included the remoteness of the present ‘forgotten corner’ site from car parks, toilets and shops, the noise and pollution from the A40, the cycle path that goes through the middle of it, difficulty of access and damage and graffiti by older children taking advantage of the site’s hidden location. 

More than a dozen supporters of the campaign turned out on Monday (21st March) to hear their case put by Rachel Jupp and Catherine Ashby, a local government town planner. Ms Ashby said: “I am not convinced that the location as it stands is the best place to invest the money to get the best results. The county’s play sufficiency audit has already identified the need for a larger destination play area to serve the children and young people of Monmouth and that’s not a need that is currently met from existing play provision in the town. It won’t be delivered by investing in the current inadequate location. 

“All we are really asking is to provide the opportunity to provide a really high quality destination play area in Monmouth, that is truly accessible and inclusive and is suitable for all children. We should strive to create a new space that is an exemplar of good design and inclusive design and would create somewhere that is a thing of beauty and delight for people that visit it. We should set our sights high on behalf of our children.”

Parent Richard Tonkins, an economist, said there was a lot of research which demonstrated how a destination playground can provide a significant business boost to the local area. “It’s also a boost for the town in terms of community cohesion and well-being,” he said. “It can be somewhere that will bring members of the community together.” 

Mr Tonkins, who said he didn’t like taking his children to the Chippenham play area because it felt unsafe and unattractive, warned there could be a hidden cost in re-equipping the present site, in term of the vandalism its “hidden” location attracted.

Councillor Ann Were said the current site was not “ideal” but felt that it would be “problematic” to move it. She said: “One thing that has struck me when I looked at Chippenham today is it is dominated by formal sports, almost every inch of it is taken up. It does seem a little unfair to me. I think there is going to have to be some compromises here, but I don’t think it is going to be easy and I think it could be quite a long, difficult process.”

Labour AM candidate for Monmouth Catherine Fookes was pleased that the consultation period has been extended, calling the location of the current playground “inappropriate”. She said: “I’m really delighted the town council is listening to campaigners on this issue.”