A Basingstoke councillor’s 40-year wait for a new park in Popley has become a reality thanks to a £350,000 cash injection.
Councillor Jane Frankum has been fighting for a state-of-the-art play area in her ward ever since moving to the area when her son Paul - who is contesting a Popley seat in next month’s borough elections – was just seven months old.
Developer’s contributions to the area after hundreds of new homes were built in Marnell Park and Merton Rise have made Popley Community Park a reality and Cllr Frankum told the Observer of her delight.
“I have been waiting four decades for this to be built,” she said. "When I first moved in, Paul was seven months old and I looked across at the open space and thought it would make a lovely park. At the time it was just a dump, it was an area where people dumped their freezers, old settees, prams, anything really.
“The council was also using it to burn hedge cuttings so there would be great columns of some choking you. But now it’s like winning the lottery,” she continued. “We needed somewhere really nice for families to go for free.”
Phase Two of the plan is due to get underway and will see a picnic area and more play equipment installed on the site before a nature reserve and cycle path is put in place.
Cllr Frankum continued: “My little dream that children will go along with the schools and learn about environmental issues. It is nice to see infrastructure as well as housing here in Popley. “Infrastructure is every bit as important as housing because you've go to get it right, utilities, parking, keeping green spaces are all vitally important in our communities.”
