Millions to be spent on play areas

NEARLY £5 million will be spent during the next two years to upgrade or repair children's play areas.

The programme of improvements is a slimmed-down version of what the Lib Dem-run city council was trying to achieve with its controversial green spaces strategy.

The council was hoping to sell off parts of open spaces for redevelopment and use the £40 million to improve parks and open spaces, but a citywide outcry forced it to change its plans.

Eventually, neighbourhood partnerships were asked to decide which parcels of land could be sold off. And this led to only a few of the 64 sites being suggested for sale.

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Each of the city's 14 partnerships were invited to bid for improvements to play areas and open spaces in their area, and council officers used a points system to decide which sites should be given priority.

Lib Dem cabinet councillor Gary Hopkins said: "This multi-million pound investment is tangible evidence of our commitment to improving our parks and providing better access to outdoor, high quality play facilities.

"The allocation of this investment has been influenced by our work with parks groups, ward councillors and neighbourhood partnerships, which have been encouraged to identify their own local priorities."

Funding for the improvements will come from the council's capital budget, from money which has been paid by developers to mitigate the effects of new buildings and from sales of surplus land.