Denton a village in South Norfolk, England

Feature - Playground Improvements

The long-running Parish Council organised project to provide extra play equipment for the village play area finally reached fruition early in 2011.

It started in in 2009 when with the help of Tanya Knights the council conducted a survey to establish what might be provided. Forms were circulated to all households and the responses carefully analysed. The survey showed there is considerable support for improving the facilities on offer. Two new features might be a Play-fort and a Play-wall.

Further consultation with residents involved a display of the options in the village hall. Costs were established and potential sources of funding grants investigated. It was anticipated that £50,000 could be needed to provide all the proposed improvements.

In February 2010 a team led by Cllr. Annie Whiteman made a bid for funding under the Norfolk Playbuilder scheme which has £500,000 available for suitable projects. Denton was shortlisted as one of the best South Norfolk bids.

In March it was announced that Denton's application had been successful, one of 12 from the 27 submitted. We were awarded £47,000 to be spent before the end of the 2010/11 financial year.

Unfortunately, the national financial crisis then forced the withdrawal of the offer. However under a revised Playbuilder scheme the Council was eventually awarded £25,000, subsequently raised to £27,000. An additional £3,500 was provided from local funds raised from the 2009 Dentill event and from money awarded under the Calor Village of the Year competition.

A special meeting, open to all, to discuss the revised scheme, timetable etc. was held at the Village Hall on Thursday 2nd December. It was hoped to complete the work before the end of the year.

In the event bad weather in December held up progress but the scheme opened for use in early January 2011.

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