Â£75k funding for play area is approved

Children from Glebe Primary School and Shoreham Academy support the play area upgrade on Southwick Green

WORK on the new children's play area on Southwick Green is expected to start early in the new year, following approval of council funding.

Keith Dollemore, Adur District Council’s cabinet member for environment, approved on Thursday the £75,000 needed for the refurbishment and improvements.

The money, from the 2014/15 Capital Investment Programme, will be topped up by an additional £2,500 allocated from the parks and foreshore’s section revenue budgets and £2,500 from Shoreham Port, making a project total of £80,000.

The Southwick Green play area was last upgraded in 1999 and the Southwick Green Community Team have been campaigning for improvements and consulting with children in the area.

John Mitchell, director for communities, said: “The local community has increased in size and the play area has not been added to or been refurbished to keep pace with the local communities’ current needs and aspirations.”