NEW play equipment worth thousands of pounds has been installed at the Sanway Road playground in Byfleet.

Sitting on land owned by St Mary’s Church, which gave the project the green light, the new playground consists of an active trail aimed at the under 12s.

Items such as a balance walk and wobbly bridge are good for developing muscle strength and improving agility and co-ordination. A new picnic bench is also being installed.

“We have some very excited young children who can’t wait to try out the new play equipment,” said Surrey county councillor for The Byfleets, Amanda Boote, who contributed £2,000 from her SCC Members’ Community Fund to the project. “It’s something that they have all been looking forward to and so it’s great to see that the fun can now start. All we now need is some sunshine to go with it.

“It’s been a hard year for us all and especially our parents with young children and so it’s nice to see this all happening. I hope to work with the Byfleet Forum going forward to bring more facilities to our lovely village.’’

Fiona Syrett, Lynn Cozens and Alan Smith from the Byfleet Neighbourhood Forum worked with Woking Council’s leisure services team to identify what equipment would fit best in the space available. The rest of the money for the play equipment, £7,000, came from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) fund that is available to the residents of Byfleet.

CIL money is a charge which can be levied on developers by local authorities as part of new developments. It helps local authorities deliver the infrastructure needed to support development in the area. The Neighbourhood Forum represents residents’ views about how they would like to see this money deployed.

Chairman Fiona Syrett said: “It’s great to see children enjoying the new play equipment after many months of planning. I am sure local families will enjoy using this new equipment for many years to come.”