Market Drayton residents' anger at £63,000 park ruling
Residents in a Shropshire town who have forked out hundreds of pounds towards a site earmarked for a play area are up in arms after it was revealed land elsewhere will instead be developed.
People living in Chancel Drive, in Market Drayton, have been paying £130 a year since 2009 to management company for maintenance of the proposed play area site in their street, but have now been told the area will go elsewhere
Four years after £63,000 was promised for the plot, householders have been told the sum will be spent on updating existing facilities in nearby Priors Lane.
Taylor Wimpey has agreed revised terms for the five-figure investment with Shropshire Council in a Section 106 deal.
Andrew Stanton, who bought his house in Chancel Drive in 2009, said residents were baffled by the saga.
"Somewhere along the line it has changed and we are now the only residents in Market Drayton paying for a public open space," he said.
"People walk their dogs there and you can't stop children playing because it is a public space, but if there is any damage we will have to pay for repairs."
Bosses at Taylor Wimpey and Shropshire Council say the revised agreement will be finalised by the end of the month.
A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: "With approval from the majority of residents and the town council, changes have been made to the Section 106 agreement.
"As a result, funding is now being used to improve and maintain the existing children's play area in Priors Lane rather than to build unwanted new facilities within the development itself."
Shropshire Councillor Steve Charmley said: "As there were play facilities already within the immediate area, a Deed of Variation was drawn up.
"When that is completed the £63,000 will be passed on to Market Drayton Town Council for them to add more play equipment and improve the existing play area."
