Council invests £350k in eco park and play areas

The facilities (not pictured) will be developed next to St Michael's Primary School playing field in Steventon and at Walnut Meadow in Drayton

A council has agreed to nearly £350,000 of funding for a new community green park and a games area.

Vale of White Horse District Council earmarked the money for an eco-play park in Steventon and a multi-sport games area in Drayton.

Steventon Parish Council plans to develop the park on land they own next to St Michael's Primary School playing field.

Drayton Parish Council is commissioning a new multi-use games area (MUGA) at Walnut Meadow.

Mark Coleman, the council's cabinet member for finance, said investing in good quality leisure and sports facilities remained "a top priority".

The local authority said the park would have 18 new trees chosen for their sustainability, a wildflower meadow, bug hotels and damp zones for amphibians and mammals.

Play equipment will be created from "sustainably sourced hardwood" and "bouncy park" permeable surfaces will be made from "recycled car tyres, and self-binding gravel".

The MUGA would cater for sports where a hard court is needed, such as five-a-side football and basketball.

The site around the edge of the MUGA would be a mixture of mown grassland, wildflower grassland and a wetland wildflower mix, "both of which will aid with biodiversity and ecological habitat", the council said.

Mr Coleman said the new facilities "will provide valuable spaces for play and exercise for years to come".

"Investing in good quality leisure and sports facilities across the Vale remains a top priority for the council," he said, adding that would contribute to "the community's health and wellbeing".