Play area gets £50,000 refurbishment

In the last couple of weeks Knaresborough Community Centre (KCC) has received a full refurbishment and now the adjacent play area will be following the same suit.

After a financing project lead by Councillor Anne Jones, external representative for KCC, a sum of £50,000 has been raised and is enough to fund the work that is needed on the area.

Councillor Anne Jones, said: “I am absolutely ecstatic. All we hear at the moment is cuts cuts cuts and it is really refreshing to have people come and support you in a project like this. It has been a long held wish of mine to regenerate this area, because it is just no longer for for purpose.”

The council has been working closely with the community to ensure this project is a success, including asking local children from different music groups, schools and centre users, what play equipment they would like to see put into the park.

“The play park is used frequently by local children and by groups from the community centre and many of the young people have commented on how boring and old the equipment is.”

The current play area was installed in 1999 and with no new equipment since then, much of the equipment no longer meets the new standards required.

The project to raise money for a new recreational area started after the KCC committee showed unanimous support for Coun Jones’ ideas during a meeting held on June 3.

Coun Jones said: “With the generous support of various funders, we are now in a position to move forward. Hopefully it will be completed by the end of the year, when we will thank all the funders at a grand opening ceremony.

The new and improved centre is also now much more modern, with a wheelchair friendly access point, new flooring, improved lighting and a fresh coat of paint.

Many young families live on the estate and by providing them with a place to meet the hope is to give them a sense of community spirit with the aim of making new friendships.

Coun Jones also thanked the HBC Play and Community Development officer, for her help completing many funding applications and Chairman of the Community Centre committee, Paul Deans, for his hard work also.