A STATE-OF-THE-ART play area that Northwich residents help develop has been officially unveiled.

The Danefields play area has been completely refurbished from the ground up, using feedback from public consultations.

It features a variety of traditional and modern equipment, which has been funded by Northwich Town Council and various grants and section 106 agreements.

In total the project has cost around £70,000.

Chris Shaw, Northwich Town Council Clerk, said: “The play area was owned by Cheshire West and Chester Council and was really badly run down.

“There was also a lot of antisocial behaviour, so we approached CWAC and asked if we could lease the park ourselves. We’ve now signed a 30 year lease on the park.

“We had residents meetings and asked what they wanted to see. Then we formed the Friends of Danefields group.”

The Friends of Danefields group will take an active role in the management of the park.

They will also liaise with the PSCO for the area, who has been involved since the group was formed.

The Danefields play area was officially opened on Wednesday by Cllr Kevin Rimmer, mayor of Northwich.

“The children were really, really excited,” Cllr Rimmer said. “The children were chanting, they wanted to let us in.”

Cllr Rimmer called on the community to ‘take ownership’ of the park.

“That park is theirs so they need to look after it and care for it,” he said

“The community were consulted with this park. We were able to give them the park they wanted. If the community take ownership it should stay a really good community asset for years and years.

“Going forward it’s about us as a town council to be able to help with these kinds of facilities. But it is all well and good us doing that, it is up to the community to take ownership.

“That is the way forward. They will do that if they are involved, which they have been with this.”

The park will be locked between 8am and dusk. For more information, visit northwichtowncouncil.gov.uk/