A STUNNING new play area in Okehampton?s Simmons Park should be open for business within the next four months after town councillors gave the scheme the thumbs up last week. Members agreed that £96,192 should be spent on ordering an exciting range of equipment for the junior phase of the playpark, which will be built on the footprint of the old swimming pool in Simmons Park. Town mayor Cllr Tony Leech said: ?I think it?s going to be wonderful ? hopefully, when it?s finished we should have one of the best play parks in this part of Devon. ?It will be a boost to the children of Okehampton. It?s taken a long time to come up with the final design, the committee has worked very hard with the supplier to achieve this.? Cllr Leech said the whole of Simmons Park had been through a ?metamorphosis? in recent years. ?Hopefully, the last link in the chain will be the replacement of the pavilion. Ultimately, we will have a garden park and a play park which will be an asset to us all,? he said. Cllr Christine Marsh, chairman of the council?s parks committee, said: ?I?m absolutely over the moon ? it?s going to be fantastic! The kids have been so patient, we?ve been promising and promising that it would be built, but I think it?s going to be really lovely and well worth the wait. Equipment in the junior park area will include a five-way swing an exciting zipslide, a climbing wall, a combination structure which includes a climbing frame and slide, a ?spinning? piece of equipment, a large climbing net and a variety of other structures guaranteed to keep youngsters entertained for hours. The whole area will be covered with a special safety surface, which also complies with the Disability Discrimination Act. The company supplying the equipment, Kompan, comes from Denmark and won the contract against tight competition. Town clerk Don Bent said: ?We had an intense selection process with English and American companies competing. ?We thought Kompan gave the best value for money, with a good range of excellent quality, robust equipment, which was adventurous and imaginative.? The groundwork for the play area and footpaths will be completed by town council staff within the next month, during which time the equipment will be ordered. Then the Danish company will take over. ?I would like to think it should be ready for use by the end of October,? said Mr Bent. The project is being funded largely by the council?s Waitrose bonus receipts. The council has already installed some play equipment for toddlers by Parklands ? further work on this phase of the play park plan should be undertaken next year, as funds become available.
