MADAM,

The upgrade of play equipment on Chippenham Mead is long-overdue. I remember playing on some of the existing equipment as a child over thirty years ago.

This is also an excellent opportunity to upgrade the location of the playground. The current location is clearly unsuitable. It is hard to get to with small children, it is not wheelchair-friendly, has extremely limited options for parking, and suffers from noise and pollution from the A40.

Although I visit Monmouth at least once a week with my children, we have been to the playground only a few times. Aside from the logistics of getting there and the disappointing play equipment, I’m not prepared for any of us to spend more time than necessary breathing in traffic fumes. I feel it will be a missed opportunity and a waste of money to upgrade the play equipment in its current location.

Earlier this year Friends of Chippenham Mead (FoCM) ran a petition to move the playground away from the A40, which gathered over 500 signatures. FoCM propose moving the playground to the Blestium Street edge of the green, near the entrance to the sports ground. As the existing playground area would be returned to grass this would not result in any loss of green space. It would give the centre of town a playground that was actually used by families. After all, what else is the village green for, if not for children to play on?

Anna Hill

(Broad Oak)