R4U at Saffron Walden Town Council announces renewal of Golden Acre Playground

R4U-led Saffron Walden Town Council has invited tenders for the complete renewal of the Playground at the Golden Acre in Saffron Walden. The renewal of the playground is intended to be completed in the first half of 2021, and follows the success of the Common playground refurbishment in 2018/19.

In October Saffron Walden Town Council established a new working group to oversee the renewal of the Golden Acre playground. The working group will then look at refurbishments of the other Town Council playgrounds at the Anglo-American Playing Fields and in Little Walden over the next few years.

R4U’s Cllr Louise Millward, a member of the Playground Working Group said “Like the Saffron Walden Common playground two years ago, the Golden Acre one is coming to the end of its life and needs huge improvements. It is massively used by local residents, and at the Town Council we are planning on a complete renewal, following a similar process to that which was so successfully used for the all-new Common playground. The Town Council has won multiple awards for its playgrounds, and we hope that this will be similarly successful.”

Cllr Millward continued “SWTC has issued an invitation to tender for the renewal. Because of the difficulties presented by Covid, it has allowed a long tender period, which will extend to the end of the year. Once tenders are received, SWTC will start a process of meeting with potential contractors and public consultation. We want the residents who will be using the new playground to be involved with its design, as they were with the new Common playground.  It will include fully-accessible equipment and will be funded from the Town Council reserves and through external grants. The challenges of 2020 have shown us how vitally important good quality community assets are for residents’ health and well-being.”

About Residents for Uttlesford

Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is the local independent party of north-west Essex towns and villages. Formed in 2014 by a number of residents’ groups, the party believes that on local issues residents should decide, not Westminster parties.

R4U leads Uttlesford District Council (UDC). It is the fastest growing local political movement in its district. In its first election in 2015 it became the second party at UDC. In 2017 it solidified its position with a further by-election gain with 60% of the vote. In the May 2019 Local Elections R4U gained majority control of UDC winning two-thirds of the seats. The result delivered the biggest loss of seats by any UK Conservative controlled council in the UK.

R4U’s success has been based on the desire to give local people a voice and implement long range strategic and sustainable plans for their area.

R4U also leads Saffron Walden Town Council, where under its stewardship the council has rebuilt finances, invested in community assets, and won multiple awards, including the best run council in Essex. It is a minority party on Great Dunmow Town Council.

Residents for Uttlesford can be found on the web at www.residents4u.org.