“It’s a bloody disgrace that Oldford kids are being ignored”

A veteran Welshpool town councillor has urged the Town Council to urgently address the lack of playground provision at Oldford, branding it a “bloody disgrace”.

Cllr Phil Pritchard was visibly agitated at the latest Services and Property Committee meeting after hearing that thousands of pounds had been spent on a number of council-run playgrounds across the town, and that more was set to be spent.

But Oldford’s, which is not under Town Council management, has been closed for nearly three years after falling into disrepair, prompting Cllr Pritchard to let rip.

It was explained by Town Clerk, Anne Wilson, that the park belonged to Clwyd Alyn Housing, but Cllr Pritchard referred back to a meeting over two years ago when joint action was promised and said “nothing has been done”. 

“There are far more children there, more than any other estate, and yet they have no play facilities whatsoever,” said Cllr Pritchard, who called for a new facility to be created by the ‘Scansis pitch’ which is well used on the estate.

Ms Wilson said that a meeting would be arranged with Clwyd Alyn as soon as possible to create an action plan after Mayor, Cllr Nick Howells, reiterated that they could only do work on the playgrounds that they owned, “of which Oldford is not one”.

Cllr Alison Davies added that an offer had been made previously by the Town Council to assist Clwyd Alyn with the playground renovation in order to bring it back into use.

During a lengthy discussion, Cllr Pritchard said that the Town Council should now step in and drive the project forward as a matter of urgency.

The following morning, Cllr Pritchard (pictured) spoke to MyWelshpool and was still not happy with the situation despite the promise of an urgent meeting with Clwyd Alyn.

“Thousands upon thousands is being spent everywhere else in Welshpool, so why not at Oldford?” he said. “It’s a bloody disgrace that Oldford kids are being ignored. All the other play areas in town are being done.

“You can’t use the excuse that kids can go and play at Maesydre. There is a main road to cross and it is too far from the top end of Oldford anyway. 

“Oldford deserves a dedicated safe place for its children to play in.”

An update will be provided at next month's meeting.