'Tired' play area in Bamber Bridge to get £225,000 facelift to bring it up to date

The tired-looking Holme Playing Field site in Havelock Road, Bamber Bridge will be given a luxury makeover to bring it up to the standard of other parks in South Ribble.

The council's cabinet will be asked to approve the work tonight, with contractors expected to move in quickly.

The Holme playground was last upgraded in 1999 and, despite its condition, it is still reported to be well-used.

It is one of four council-owned play areas earmarked for upgrading during the current financial year, with a total budget of £650,000 set aside to do the work.

A report to go before the cabinet tomorrow evening asks members to approve one of three tenders received for the refurbishment - the chosen contractor promising to source between 20 and 30 per cent of materials locally and also offer some learning opportunities on site for local schoolchildren during the work.

The report says: "The current capital programme includes a number of play areas identified for improvement.

"The options of doing nothing and leaving the site in its current condition or carrying out partial refurbishment works were rejected as the site is now over 20 years old and in need of full refurbishment to provide quality facilities that meet modern standards for design and accessibility.

"A previous playground refurbishment programme ran from 2003 to 2012, refurbishing a number of the council's children's play areas.

"The Holme Playing Field playground was last completely refurbished in 1999 and, whilst it remains well-used by the public, the layout and equipment is now outdated and the site scores poorly for accessibility and inclusivity, especially compared with the more modern designs of playgrounds recently refurbished around the borough."

The new-look play area will have areas for toddlers (aged two to six), juniors (aged seven to 12) and teenagers.

A public consultation was carried out in April to find out what park users would like to see in the new play area.