THE new and extended play area in Tenbury has been opened.

Councillor Susan Corfield, whose grandchildren were very excited to try it out, officially opened it at the weekend as a special Easter treat for youngsters.

New equipment for younger children was installed in early February in the space between the current play area and the tennis courts to give youngsters lots more play opportunities.

The new area includes a multi-use play tower with a slide and new swings with cradle seats for the very young.

After the equipment was installed the new area was fenced and it has since been kept closed off to allow the new grass areas to get established.

The town council has also completed works to improve the entrance to The Burgage.

It has been levelled for better drainage and the pathway has been widened and re-tarmacked.

Grass reinforcement grids have been installed adjacent to the play areas where occasional vehicle traffic has churned up the grass in the past.

The areas have been re-seeded and once the grass has re-grown through the grids the area will regain its natural look but will be better able to withstand wear.

Town clerk Dawn Worgan said she would like to thank local businesses RPS Grounds Maintenance and MTM Contracting Ltd which have carried out the play area fencing and entrance works on schedule and with minimum disruption to users of The Burgage.

She felt sure the new facilities would be well used and hoped that everyone would enjoy them as the weather improves.

Work to improve and extend the play area has cost £20,000.

The play area is one of a number of schemes in Tenbury that are either in progress or being considered for the future.

A scheme for the pavilion that is being looked at would involve a timber framed building with cladding that would also need to be fitted out inside.

Changing rooms are also being considered adjacent to the swimming pool and leisure centre. However, because it has been decided that youths and adults cannot share two buildings would be needed.

The most likely solution if the project goes ahead would be two separate buildings with two changing rooms – one for home and the other for away teams – as well as an area for referees and match officials to use.

A solution would be modular style structures that could effectively be dropped into an area close to the swimming pool and leisure centre.

However, the issue that would need to be resolved is how to fund the projects.

It was revealed last year that Tenbury Town Council has a pot of £36,000 of which £19,000 has to be spent on building schemes.

Tenbury Town Council has committed itself to improving facilities for the people of the town.

The various projects that are being looked at are likely to take several months if not years to bring to fruition.

A new town council that will be elected in May will have the challenge of taking the programme to the next stage.