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.

Louise Millard (R4U) Louise Millard (R4U)

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