ANGRY parents and children in Bradford on Avon have accused Wiltshire Council of holding their local town council to ransom in a protest about the closure of their local play area.

Wiltshire Council has locked the gates of the St Aldhelm play area, saying it’s unsafe to use, just days ahead of schools breaking up for the summer holiday.

It is estimated that repairs to the play area surface and equipment will cost £1,680 plus VAT - a total of £2,016 - with no Section 106 cash from developers available to pay for it.

Now angry parents have accused the council of holding Bradford on Avon Town Council to ransom because they will not make repairs while asset transfer talks are taking place.

Kay Allen, of St Aldhelm Road, said: “Last week, a sign was placed on the fence saying ‘park closed until further notice’ and both gates were padlocked.

“We have spoken to Wiltshire Council and the first person insisted, even though the sign had a Wiltshire Council logo, that play areas were no longer anything to do with them and that I had to contact Bradford on Avon Town Council.”

Nell Farrally, of Mythern Meadow, said: “It does not seem right to me that Wiltshire Council are denying children open spaces to play unless a town council takes on a currently unusable and unsafe playground.

“If the play area has been closed for safety reasons, than access needs to be really restricted or the safety issues rectified without delay. The fence to the play area is waist height and can be easily climbed over.”

Parents say the play area is important to local families as it’s a good and safe place for their children to play without constant adult supervision.

Another parent, Kay Allen, of St Aldhelm Road, added: “It gets a lot of use during the week by families with pre-school children and older children at weekends.

“I wouldn’t let my children go over to Poulton Playing Fields or the Victory Field as there are busy main roads to cross to get there.”

She added: “The deliberate strategy of closing poorly-maintained facilities and expecting town councils to meet the costs of then making them usable is not fair.

“Wiltshire Council should engage constructively with the town council to make the play area safe without delay. Play areas like this are hugely important to families.”

Town council leader, Cllr Dominic Newton, said: “Although the town council has been working to engage Wiltshire Council in discussions about asset transfer of play areas, currently St Aldhelm play area is not the responsibility of the town council.

“We have repeatedly stated our intention to take on the play areas and have been encouraged in this view.

“We now find ourselves at the back of a long queue to discuss asset transfers, and facing the closure of facilities, as we’ve already seen with the skate park.

“This comes on the back of a policy that seeks to offload huge additional burdens onto town and parish councils as part of those transfers.”

“We have proposed a sensible way forward to Wiltshire on this, and are seeking a meeting with them at the highest level.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “We continue to maintain parks in only a few local areas, with Bradford on Avon being one of those. The vast majority of parks are provided and funded locally.

“We have been working to harmonise our service and transfer our few remaining play areas to the local town councils to ensure fairness in provision.

“We are working with the town council on transferring this particular play park, but it needs urgent safety repair work so unfortunately we have had to close it. We apologise to anyone who is inconvenienced, but a long-term solution will soon be found.”