Bowood View play park now open

A PLAY area in Bowood View off Semington Road is now open, as Melksham Without Parish Council (MWPC) have adopted the site from the developer, and completed maintenance and safety issues.

Melksham Without Parish Council clerk, Teresa Strange said, “The parish council are pleased that they have now opened the play area, especially in time for the lovely weather and upcoming May half-term.

“They have spent some £11,000 in the last week installing additional safety surfacing, and removing the gravel path to replace with tarmac. It did not take the decision lightly but to date, despite numerous attempts, including through the council’s solicitors, have not managed to get Bellway to undertake the work themselves at this point, and in the meantime the play area remained closed.

“They made the decision to bite the bullet and take it on and do it themselves for the benefit of the residents. Whilst the tarmac path was installed, we were able to get a local professional to have a look at the sub structure under the safety surfacing, with concerns that this may not last the summer months, and are now deciding on the course of action.”

The Whitworth View play area was built as part of the plans for the Bowood View estate, which was developed by Bellway and finished in 2020. The park has never opened and was due to be adopted by MWPC however, they refused to do this until Bellway installed an additional safety surface and laid down a tarmac path in place of gravel.

Due to the length of time it was going to take Bellway to complete these works, MWPC went ahead and funded this out of the parish council’s budget, in order to open the park for the community.

The parish council is also due to adopt the Pathfinder Place play area in Bowerhill, which was developed by Taylor Whimpey.