New plan approved for Churchfields

FRODSHAM Town Council has approved a revised plan for the redevelopment of Churchfields – without the controversial “wheeled play area.”
There will be a new children’s play area, a kick-about area, footpaths and landscaping.
But the “wheeled play area” or skatepark, which caused a storm of protest from nearby residents when they were first put forward nearly two years ago, no longer figure in the proposals.
Council chairman Cllr Mark Warren said the proposals had been scaled down generally when compared to the original plan because of a disappointing response to grant applications.
A footpath running through the middle of the play area had been removed, other footpaths had been altered and a drainage scheme for the kick-about area had been dropped.
Altogether, savings of about £56,000 had been achieved compared with the original scheme. However, parts of the scheme which had been omitted to keep it within budget, such as the drainage, could be added easily at a later date, in consultation with nearby residents.
Cllr Warren said, interestingly, although the wheeled play area had been the most contentious part of the original scheme, the consultation exercise had shown that some 52 per cent of residents had actually been in favour of it.
He said the scheme should be completed within a year or two.
In May 2013, more than 50 people, mainly from Churchfields Road and Froda Avenue, attended the annual town meeting to protest at what they claimed was a lack of consultation over the scheme.
Although they supported plans to upgrade the field, they were strongly opposed to the wheeled play area which they believed would cause a noise nuisance. A major concern was that a skatepark would attract older youths, inevitably leading to more anti-social behaviour.
The council stressed at the time that no firm plan had been adopted and that the proposals were merely part of a consultation process.