Anger as £40k Condover play area submerged again

Angry residents have slammed a £40,000 play area and woodland park in a Shropshire village after it flooded for the second time in three months.

The park in Brook Close, Condover, became submerged after heavy rain hit the adjacent Cound Brook on Saturday.

It is the second time the site has flooded since it opened at the end of April. It first became submerged the day after it was officially opened by MP Daniel Kawczynski.

The play area and woodland park, which is run by Condover Parish Council, was built with the help of a £40,000 grant from Shropshire Council's playbuilder scheme. But residents have raised concerns about its position on the flood plain.

Ray Betton said: "The floodwater has receded now but in my opinion, and other residents also, it should not have been built there in the first place.

"I have concerns about safety. During the planning process, local residents warned Condover Parish Council and the Shropshire planners that the woodland was within the flood plain of the Cound Brook."

Mr Betton also claimed that no warning signs were put in place during the flooding to alert residents. But Claire Tolley, chairman of the Condover Park Woodland Committee, said the floodwater dispersed rapidly.

"The flood water was around for a maximum of two hours on Saturday and it came right up to the footpath so it would have been obvious that it was not possible to use the equipment."

She added: "When we applied for planning permission we were aware that we would be building on a flood plain.

"It normally floods once or twice every few years but obviously we have been having some extreme weather this year.

"All the equipment has been made out of wood so it can cope with water coming in and out."

See also:

• Big clean up starts after Shropshire floods shock

• Bridge washed away in Shropshire floods

• Flood rescues as rivers rise – In pictures