CAMELFORD Town Council were pleased to officially launch phase 1 of their newly refurbished and improved play area over the Easter weekend.

The play area, situated in the heart of Enfield Park, was opened to the public on the morning of Saturday, April 20 by deputy mayor Claire Hewlett and a group of local children, with free goodie bags being distributed to some lucky children by Wicksteed, who installed the new equipment.

Cllr Hewlett said: “It was a beautiful day and there were loads of families in Enfield Park on Saturday for the opening of phase 1 of the town council’s playground refurbishment. The children were very excited to be asked to ‘cut the ribbon’ to officially open the play area.

“It’s been a team effort to get to this point — so thanks to staff, councillors and to Wicksteed, our contractors, for helping deliver the vision created by the public through the consultation process. The children enjoyed the goodie bags given out by Lynn from Wicksteed and the free fruit from Alan, of Camels Garden, who was accompanied by two camels.”

Cllr Hewlett was also pleased to announce the future of the next phase of the play area.

She said: “I was thrilled to be able to announce phase 2 of the refurbishment — Camelford Town Council have just secured £35,000 of funding from Great Western Railway to create a train-themed play area, which will reflect Camelford’s railway history. This will be going out to tender this month and the project will be completed by the end of the year.”

Town clerk, Esther Grieg, was delighted with the turnout and is looking forward to the future of this area of the park.

She said: “The opening was really well attended, and we’re all really pleased. The weather was really nice too — people wanted to come along and then head off to the beach. People were in really good spirits.

“As soon as the gates went down, the kids were swarming on it! We’re also really pleased because we have got funding for phase 2 of the project, which is being funded by Great Western Railway, who have donated £35,000, so that’s really good news.”

Camelford Town Council are ensuring that Enfield Park is a great asset for the whole community, with improvements taking place throughout the park.

Ms Grieg continued: “The park in general is having a bit of a spring clean. We’ve repaired Broadwood Bridge and ensured its future for another five or six years, we’re installing a new bird hide, lots more birds are nesting and we’ve also got some new gym equipment too. It’s looking really healthy.”

She added: “Spring is springing and it’s just great.”