A SECOND World War shelter will have to be removed to fulfil hopes of a BMX track and new equipment at South Oxford Adventure Playground.

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price wants to clear the wooded field next door to the Whitehouse Road play area to double the size of the park.

But the site also has the remains of an underground Second World War air raid shelter, which would have to be removed, along with any possible toxins in the soil.

Mr Price, ward councillor for Grandpont, said he hopes to win environmental grants towards the work and clear the site for about £30,000.

He said: "This piece of land is really wasted at the moment. It isn't used for anything and it's potentially quite dangerous for people to go into.

"It seems sensible, given it's close to SOAP and Hinksey Park Football Club, for it to be brought back into use in a way that complements the playground."

The Labour council leader said he had a meeting set for April with the council's parks team to talk about the project.

He hopes to apply for a grant from the WREN group, which redirects money from the Government's Landfill Tax to community projects.

Through its Community Fund, WREN offers grants up to £50,000 for the provision, maintenance or improvement of a public park.

Mr Price added: "We don't think it will be hugely expensive, the bulk of the expense would be clearing the site properly.

"We'd have a pretty big job clearing out the stuff that's there. There's a lot of concrete and metal which would need to be very carefully cleared out.

"There would certainly be an amount of work thinning out the trees but leaving some bigger ones."

Given the site's use as an air raid shelter during the war, he said it was "perfectly possible" there was chemical contamination in the soil.

He added: "We couldn't really be confident until we have done that investigation, and if it was very contaminated we wouldn't want to do it.

"We think we would be talking about £30,000 but we wouldn't know until we got a bit of investigation work especially with the underground conditions."

He said he would like to create a BMX cycle track around the site, with wooden play equipment with ropes in the middle for "adventure play".

Mr Price added: "We would manage the facilities to keep it looking good but left for open play."

The land that currently makes up South Oxford Adventure Playground has been a playground since the 1970s, but it has been run by a committee of locals since the 1990s.

Until 2013, the park only opened during holidays, then a group of south Oxford parents raised £1,200 to start opening the park every day after school.

The trustees who manage the park now employ 10 part-time play workers with disability training to keep an eye on things.

During term time the park opens every weekday from 3.15pm to 5.15pm.

Find out more at soapoxford.org.uk

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