Popular park to get £180k revamp

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 8th Jun 2009

Beckett Park in North West Leeds is to get a new £180,000 play area thanks to support from residents and their local councillors.

The existing play area will be dismantled and a new modern playground will be constructed at the other side of the park near to the tennis courts and skate park.

The new play equipment has been chosen by children and parents in the area. Beckett Park is popular with the locals of Headingley, West Park and Kirkstall and its large open spaces provide a quiet haven in this bustling part of the city.

The current play facilities have been in need of refurbishment for some time now. Councillors on the Inner North West Area Committee have given £40,000 towards the project with the rest of the money coming from local developers.

Cllr Judith Chapman (Lib Dem, Weetwood) said:

"I have been in complete support of this project from the beginning. The new play area will be much larger and will have a new and exciting design scheme with better play equipment which local residents have helped to pick out.

" We have been discussing the details of the park with officers for some months now and I am pleased that the funding has been sorted and we can go with the better option of relocating the play area completely rather than just refurbishing what was already there."