£400k scheme will promote fitness

Youngsters tested fitness equipment to celebrate the scheme on the town’s Ladygrove estate.

The four-kilometre loop around the estate is a green walking and cycle route through the south and central areas, with a number of new facilities, including two new exercise stations.

Council contractors have been working on the scheme since August and celebrated its completion on Wednesday.

Thirty pupils, aged five to 10, from Ladygrove Park Primary School, in Avon Way, tested the new equipment, including Emily Nuttall, from Didcot.

The 10-year-old said: “I went on the rowing machines and really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to playing on them on the way home from school.”

David Burrows, the school’s headteacher, said: “I think this is a good investment by the council and I hope the new equipment will encourage children to walk to school and do lots of exercise.

“These machines are fun and there are health benefits as well.”

Council leader Ann Ducker, who cut a ribbon to officially open the newly renovated areas of the loop, said: “I’m hoping people from across Didcot will come and use these new facilities.

“I had a go on one of the hip-swinging machines and it left me quite out of breath.

“We will continue to work with local people to make sure Didcot becomes one of the most popular places in Oxfordshire for people to live and work.

“The people of Didcot actually requested these improvements and I think they will be an asset for the estate and the whole town.”

The new features, the first major upgrade since the estate was completed in the 1990s, include: * An integrated walking, cycling and fitness route, with two new outside exercise stations * Ten new seating areas and a picnic area * Six acres of new wildflower meadows, 3.3km of new hedgerows and 1,800 new trees * Two new natural play areas and gateways at Cow Lane and Tyne Avenue * Enhancements to the existing play area in Ladygrove park didcot@oxfordmail.co.uk