Children face long wait for play equipment repairs

YOUNGSTERS waiting patiently for the broken zip wire in King George V playing field to be replaced, may have to wait until after the school summer holidays for it to be installed.  

The piece of adventure play equipment has been out of action since the summer of last year, which has attracted criticism from residents about the length of time it is taking to repair or be replaced. 

At a recent town council meeting one resident, who said they first reported the zip wire as broken in April last year said, “I find it incredibly sad that so many months down the line, the most popular piece of equipment in the park is not repaired. The children of Melksham have not had a zip wire for about a year, and that is not good enough.” 

The town council has explained that a new zip wire has been ordered, but installation has been delayed by ‘supply issues’. 

A spokesperson for the town council said, “A new zip wire was ordered about four weeks ago. At that time, we were told that the lead time for the order would be 20 weeks. I understand that this has now dropped to approximately 13 weeks.” 

The town council has also been criticised for the lack of information regarding the embankment slide, installed last year next to the adventure centre, which has been cordoned off for a number of weeks. 

According to the town council, the slide has been removed from public use whilst the new grass on the embankment  ‘beds in.’ They expect the slide to be reopened early this month. 

There was also criticism last month about the park’s splashpad, which was closed for several days because of ‘technical issues’. Families were disappointed that the waterplay facility was closed during a run of good weather. 

The town council explained that the splashpad, which is run on a chlorinated water system, failed a routine microbiological test, indicating the water was ‘unsafe’. After seven days of being closed, the splashpad reopened on Saturday 28th May.