IT MAY not have garnered much excitement yesterday but one councillor said a new zip wire would help transform an Oxford play area.

Oxford city councillor Mick Haines has long campaigned for the suspended wire play equipment at Marston’s Croft Road Recreation Ground.

And after much anticipation he was on hand to mark the grand opening of the new ride, and of course to have a go himself, now contractors have finished putting it together.

Although the park was deserted for the big launch, Mr Haines said it would get plenty of use over half term.

He said, shortly before hurtling down the line: “The kids will love it when they come to the park and it will be packed this bank holiday weekend.

“I am very happy with it. It has been a long battle to get it but it has been all worth it. It will be great for the kids and a great thing for the park.

“I would really like to thank Tina Mould, Julian Cooper, Duncan Tyndall, Dean Stowell and Tony Gibbons at the city council landscape team.”

The city councillor first set his sights on installing the wire two years ago.

At a cost of £5,000, it was funded partly from contributions made from the Friar’s Court housing development as well as Mr Haines’ own council budget.

He said the equipment, and more like it, was ‘badly needed’ in what he described as a ‘forgotten park’ in the city.

He added: “This is just the start of more play apparatus here. The park needs more and Marston has been left behind compared to other areas.

“This park is well used by the local community and I have been fighting for years to get more play equipment here.”

The football posts at the park are set to be replaced as part of an overhaul, he said, and Mr Haines now has his eyes on getting a sandpit as well as other amenities to boost the park.

He said: “It’s about getting a centre for the local community of Marston. This park is very well used. There are 50 to 60 people using it at times, more in the good weather.

“Of course it will only get more use with the zip wire.

“I think parks are very important because, for example, here we don’t have that community centre. We have got Mortimer Hall recreation ground but that is more for the village more than anyone else.”

Zip wires have become increasingly popular across the city’s parks and beyond.

County council leader Ian Hudspeth famously opened Woodstock’s new play area, its first zip wire, by hurtling down a zip line in September 2014 after Woodstock Town Council installed the equipment.

And then in May 2015 Oxford’s Herschel Crescent Recreation Ground in Littlemore was officially opened which also included a zip wire.