WESTBURY Town Council agreed to take ownership of all of the town's play areas at a council meeting on Monday, September 5.

The council agreed to receive funding of £20,000 from Wiltshire Council which will be used for maintenance and repair work.

A number of play areas in the town are in a poor condition and several, including Kendrick Close and a park on Paxman’s Road, have been closed altogether for health and safety reasons - but it is now hoped they will be reopened and restored to former glory.

Of the 11 councillors at the meeting, 10 approved the transfer but councillor Francis Morland did not.

Cllr Morland said: “The £20,000 Wiltshire Council is offering may sound like a large sum of money, but if the quote we have been given is reliable, then gardening alone will cost us around £13,000, so it would be a significant increase in our annual running costs.

“Maintenance costs are not a one-off payment and I’m surprised that other councillors have not looked at the financial consequences of this more closely.

“It was the speed with which the decision was made that concerned me. Of course I care about the town’s play areas but it seemed like a decision was made without thinking about the consequences.”

A number of councillors urged others at the meeting to vote in favour of the funding, including Cllr Gordon King.

Speaking at the meeting, he said: “Play areas should be high up on our list of priorities – this is an investment we simply need to make.

“We can’t deny that the amount of money this council has to find over the next few years is frightening, but our choice is to either stand up and face these challenges or shut up shop and don’t bother."

Talks between Wiltshire Council and Westbury Town Council will begin soon, before maintenance work begins.

​ A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “We are taking a phased approach to asset transfers in the county and we will be meeting with Westbury Town Council later this week to discuss this with them.”