CONTRACTORS have started work this week on a new £54,000 play park for Broughton Gifford.

When it’s finished in about three weeks’ time, the play park in Curtis Orchard will provide a modern and safe space where village children and meet and play.

Parish councillors are planning an official opening and celebration at 2pm on Saturday, June 15 when work on the play park is complete.

They are planning to involve the local Gardening Club and other green-fingered residents in planting flowers and shrubs to make the area more attractive and a nature friendly planting scheme has already been developed to support this.

They are celebrating after gaining a £25,500 Government award to help improve the play park.

Parish Council clerk Mrs Georgina Berry said: “We only found out about the funds being available in late December and by the end of January a committee of local parishioners and residents had submitted a bid for matched funding.

“We have also set aside £29,000 from funds set aside from local solar farm developments and other associated easements, some of which is being used for other projects in the village.”

The Government cash is coming from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Pocket Parks Plus scheme and will be funded through Wiltshire Council.

It is enabling the parish council to replace the existing play park to enable village children to relax, exercise, socialise and play.

Cllr Philip Alford, the Wiltshire Council ward member for Melksham Without North, said the parish council took over responsibility for the play park management in January from Wiltshire Council and made the grant application to help improve it.

He added: “It is a real success story. The parish council removed all the old play equipment in April and the seating bench and will replace it with enhanced facilities.”

The total cost of improving the park is put at £54,000 and the hope is to have new equipment installed ready for an official opening next month.

Parish council chairman Cllr Mark Sullivan said: “This project shows just what our community is able to achieve when it comes together to meet a challenging deadline that will provide obvious benefit to the children for years to come. I am very proud of what our small village has achieved here.”

John Boyd, of Knutsford-based Creative Play UK Ltd, which specialises in providing play equipment for children of all ages, says they will be installing jigsaw towers, a linear climbing frame, a climbing wall and wetpour rubber surfacing.