Stafford Council agrees to hand over play area to parish council
A village play area is being handed over to new owners – with improvements in store for younger residents.
Stafford Borough Council has owned the St Mary’s Road play area in Little Haywood for 40 years.
But now the authority is transferring ownership and maintenance of the site to Colwich Parish Council.
The parish council has been considering taking on the village play area for three years and at Thursday's Stafford Borough Council’s cabinet meeting, councillors agreed to hand it over.
A report to the cabinet meeting said: “The parish council propose to upgrade the current play area and investigate external funding opportunities from a variety of awarding bodies.
"They have confirmed their wish to take over the maintenance and upkeep of the existing play area and any subsequent improvements to the play area.
“The land was conveyed to Stafford Borough Council in 1979 by Bryant Homes Limited. There is a covenant on the land not to construct any buildings or other erections or carry out any development of any description but to maintain the site as public open space in perpetuity.
“Whilst the parish council have some funding to refurbish the play area, they are investigating external funding opportunities. By having ownership of them site they are able to draw down funding that we cannot.
“The play area is inspected weekly and the grass is cut 10-14 times per year depending on the weather. The latest annual inspection report found that there were some areas that needed attention and these were categorised as low to medium risk.
“Discussions with Colwich Parish Council have been ongoing since 2016 in regard to improving the current play area. Allowing the Parish Council ownership of the land and play area provides the community an opportunity to have full control over a local facility.”
Councillor Jeremy Pert, cabinet member for community, said at Thursday’s meeting: “It’s a really good example of communities helping communities. I think it is a really good thing to do.”
Councillor Mike Smith added: “The parish council has access to grants we can’t get so it is a good move.”
