May 2024
The play park was officially opened on the 4th May at 3pm. Cllr Gradwell, assisted by two students from Melton Primary School, cut the ribbon.
Melton Parish Council Chair Cllr Gradwell gave a short speech giving thanks to those who had donated to the project, to the contractor Kompan and to Melton Primary school for providing feedback on the designs. The park now features inclusive elements including a wheelchair accessible roundabout, multi-user swings and communication boards.
Grants were received from The Melton Trust, the Melton, Woodbridge and Deben Peninsula Community Partnership, County Councillors – Cllr Nicoll and Cllr Leach, District Councillors – Cllr Smith-Lyte, Cllr Yule and Cllr Molyneux, the ESC Outdoor Play Space Fund and Tesco Stronger Starts. The rest has been paid for by Community Infrastructure Levy.
26th March 2024 – Play Park Open!
The play park has been inspected and final snagging completed so the play park is now open. A celebratory event is planned for Saturday 4th May at 3pm.
20th March 2024 – Play Park nearly finished
Most of the work on Beresford Drive Play Park has been carried out. However there is some final snagging to be carried out next week. As a result the Play Park remains closed for the time being but we are hoping it will be open for the Easter weekend.
March 2024 – Work underway
The contractors are on site and have removed all the old play equipment and started installing the new equipment. Despite the recent wet weather they are making good progress and hope to have finished installing the equipment by the 11th/12th March, ready for the safety surface to be laid later in the week. Although the play park will open as soon as possible, the official opening will take place on Saturday 4th May at 3pm.
February 2024 – Work to begin this month
The work to replace the equipment at the park will be starting at the end of the month. The park will be closed from the 26th February [updated] and we hope that it will re-open on the 20th March. These dates are subject to change however – largely driven by the weather.
January 2024 – Contractor appointed
We received quotes from a number of companies and carried out an evaluation with various stakeholders, including children from Melton Primary School. At the December meeting of the Parish Council it was decided to appoint Kompan as the contractor and the designs are shown below. It is hoped that the works will be carried out in the next couple of months and the play park will be open for late spring/early summer.
Play Park Consultation
East Suffolk Council divested the play park and some of the surrounding grassed areas at Beresford Drive to Melton Parish Council in 2021. So far, the Parish Council has carried out grass cutting, planted numerous trees with Transition Woodbridge and ensured the play park is kept safe.
Unfortunately, the swings had to be taken out of service last year due to safety concerns and we are aware that the park could do with some investment. The Parish Council is keen to know your views on what improvements could be made to the play park and surrounding area.
We held a public consultation on Saturday 3rd June at the play park for residents to let us know what improvements they would like to see. The online survey closed on 30th June 2023.