Anger grows over Branscombe playing field state

CONCERNED Branscombe residents have voiced their anger over the state of the village s playing field.

CONCERNED Branscombe residents have voiced their anger over the state of the village's playing field.

They questioned why the field, which was dug-up during the village hall's �250,000 revamp, had not been returned to its former glory.

Several residents raised the issue at the annual parish meeting last Thursday.

April Rose said: "We are now getting into the summer season and this is when children will want to start using it more."

Richard Fuell added: "A quarter of a million pounds has been spent to do the village hall. When the Napoli left, all the covers were removed straight away and the beach was as clean as ever!"

Lynley Doulton told the meeting that one of her children had fallen over outside the play area due to the trenches of Tarmac which had not been replaced.

The chairman of the village hall, David Crowe, explained that because of the bad weather, restoration works to the field had been delayed.

He said: "All the installations - the ground source heat pump, pvs (solar panels) have been installed and are working but the final restoration of the field is the biggest challenge.

"Because of the bad weather and other factors, it cost the contractor far more than he budgeted for and there was some difficulty in getting him back."

Mrs Rose asked if the contractors have been paid in full before the work has been completed.

Mr Crowe said this was not the case but added: "That is one of the difficulties - it is the chicken and the egg situation."

He told the meeting that it had been a very taxing time for the village hall committee and the hold-up in reinstating the playing field had not been "for the want of trying".

Mr Crowe added that the contractor was due to carry out "a lot of" work over the past week but "could not say when the field would be ready for use".