A PROPOSAL to provide a new playground on Chippenham Mead suffered a setback on Monday night (16th January) when town councillors voted to refurbish the present play park.

The suggestion that a new play area on the other side of the village green would benefit from better visibility and less road pollution was not an option according to town planners who are concerned that the funds allocated from housing developments would be clawed back by developers if the money is not used by 2019.

With a new park requiring planning permission from Monmouthshire County Council (MCC), consultation with Natural Resources Wales and the Open Spaces Society, and consent from the Welsh Government, the concern was that the timetable for permission, if granted, would take longer than the time frame allows.

The planning committee, who recommended the decision to the town council, heard from members of the public and Friends of Chippenham Mead, reasons for and against supporting the refurbishment of the present park located by Monmouth School.

The friends group, who are pushing for a new location, argue that the pollution from the nearby A40 was in excess of safe levels and that the proposed site would be in a far more accessible and visible location, closer to toilet facilities and the main shopping area of town. Although they were aware the town floods, they felt their identified Site C, close to Chippenham Court and the Welsh Water station, was “less liable to surface water flooding”.

Counter arguments put forward included; MCC’s own pollution testing has put the present site within acceptable levels over a three year period; further encroachment of the village green would create a precedent for future development and that the £85,000 that has been allocated for specifically refurbishing the present playground is only available for another two years. Refurbishment would not require planning permission.

It was also pointed out that three schools border the A40: Monmouth School, Monmouth Comprehensive School and Agincourt School.

With planners voting seven to one in favour of recommending refurbishment, it was unlikely to be overturned at full town council.

It wasn’t; 10 councillors voted to recommend to MCC that present play park be refurbished and five voted against the idea. It now goes before MCC’s Cabinet for a decision on 1st February.