A HUGE £55,000 will be used to give a play area in Rochford an overhaul.

Families living near Rochford Recreation Ground will benefit from a £55,400 funding boost, which will be used to give the play area a new lease of life.

Echo:

Overhaul - the Rochford Recreation Ground will benefit from a £55.4k funding boost

£45,400 from the funding boost has come from the Suez Communities Trust, an independent funding body, with £10,000 coming from Rochford Council.

The council said the refurbished playground will be focussed on “creative play”, which will encourage children to be more active in using their imagination, alongside their physical skills.

Arthur Gordon, councillor for the environment at Rochford District Council, said the overhaul is not because of complaints, but rather it is part of a wider scheme.

He said: “There was no problem with the play area. The council has put aside £700,000, which may rise to £1million, for play spaces.

“We’re going around the whole area as part of the scheme. We’ve just opened a play area in Great Wakering. We hope this one is finished around November time.”

Mr Williams thanked Suez for the funding and added: “This injection of cash will enable us to provide a state-of-the art play area at Rochford Recreation Ground, and I would like to thank Suez Communities Trust for their funding.

“As a council, we know how important it is to encourage young people to explore the outdoors to the benefit of both their physical and mental wellbeing.

“Therefore, we have embarked on a project which will see up to £1 million of investment in our play areas, and will be seeking various funding opportunities to the benefit of our local communities.”

Marek Gordon, chairman of Suez Communities Trust, said he was delighted to offer funding to the council.

A spokesman from Rochford Council said: “We applied for this funding opportunity and will be contributing a further £10,000 towards the project, to install a modern play facility which will cater for a wider range of ages.

“This is part of an exciting overhaul of play areas across the Rochford District worth up to £1million over the course of the three year programme; funded by the district council, grant funding opportunities and parish councils.”