Greatly-missed Mildenhall playground opens its gates

Residents in Mildenhall have welcomed the reopening this week of a much-missed playground which has been closed for nearly nine months.

The play area, in Recreation Way, was shut in July last year after dangerous faults were found in its rubber safety surfacing.

Following a long battle by Mildenhall Parish Council to find funding its repairs, the play area was reopened on Wednesday and is already back in demand with children of all ages in the town.

In a statement Mildenhall Parish Council said issued an apology to residents, saying the ‘legal process’ had hindered its ability to communicate freely with them about the situation.

A spokesman for the council said: “The park is now available to all and we hope the new surface will allow many years of enjoyment.

“We realise that the closure has caused inconvenience to parents and disappointment to children and we are sorry things have taken so long to resolve.

“We were, however, bound by our duty of care to those using the park, the need to abide by the confidentiality which the solicitors insisted upon, and an obligation to use public money with care.”

John Barker, parish councillor for Great Heath ward, said: “We are delighted that after long negotiations the play area is back in action in time for Easter.

“We’ve spent a lot of money making it up to standard, but the effort was worthwhile and we hope it will be well used as it was before.”

In its statement the parish council said it was hoped repairs could be ‘carried out rapidly’, but following complications with the original company it sought legal advise on how to fund the project.

It opted for a full surface replacement which, although more expensive, was thought better than ‘selective repairs’.