A 'TIRED' playground has been transformed after more than £60,000 was ploughed into new facilities.

Ralegh Crescent play area at Deer Park, Witney, has undergone a £63,000 refurbishment in a joint initiative between West Oxfordshire District Council and Witney Town Council.

An exciting range of new equipment for children up to the age of 12 has been added following feedback from local children.

This has given the playground a new lease of life and Jeanette Baker, cabinet member for leisure and health at West Oxfordshire District Council, expects the benefits to be felt for years to come.

She said: “It is wonderful to see this money being put to such good use and making a real difference to the local community.

“This play area will continue to provide great fun for generations of children.”

The redesign comes after children picked the type of equipment they wanted during a consultation at the 2017 West Witney Primary School Christmas Fayre.

Their ideas were put to supplier HAGS, one of the largest manufacturers of recreational products in the UK, whose equipment is exported around the world.

The company then came up with a play area designed to cater for the entire age range, featuring new slides, swings and climbing equipment, plus a toddler trail for younger children.

One of residents' key concerns surrounding the existing playground was its issues with drainage, which often made the facility unusable during wet weather.

The new design takes this into account as one of a series of updated features.

Witney Town councillor Harry Eaglestone paid tribute to the quality of the new facilities and claimed it would regenerate the playground.

He said: “It’s especially good to see the results of a successful consultation with local children breathe new life into such a well-used and popular play area.

"The refurbishment, to a very high standard by our local town and district councils, has been well worth the wait.”

Witney Town councillor for West Ward Jim King added: “A good deal of thought has obviously gone into both the design and the equipment - it will be great to see the children enjoying the park again.

“The design is brilliant and we hope that it has long lasting appeal and will be valued by children of all ages.”

Pupils and teachers at West Witney Primary School, on Erdington Road, joined councillors at the launch of the refurbished playground.

The project was brought about thanks to S106 funding from recent housing developments.

Developers can be asked to provide S106 contributions if new community and social infrastructure is needed as a result of a new development taking place.

In November, the district council awarded Aston and Cote Community Trust £14,040 to cover 25 per cent of the cost of a new children's playground at Aston Village Hall, near Witney.

The money was part of the latest round of Community Facilities Grants, with another £12,560 going towards installing older children’s playground equipment in Bladon, near Woodstock.