PLANS for a new play park may finally go ahead – if funding can be arranged.

West Dorset District Councillors will be asked to approve a loan of £97,078 to Beaminster Town Council for a play area. Town councillors are waiting to hear if their application for grant funding worth £80,000 from the Southern Dorset Local Action Group (SDLAG) has been approved.

A report which will be discussed at a full council meeting today (THURS) explains that the loan would forward fund the project at the Memorial Playing Field in Beaminster. The project must be completed before the SDLAG grant funding is paid to the town council.

A drop-in session was held in the Public Hall in October so residents could have their say on the plans.

Cllr Janet Page, of Beaminster Town Council, said she is 'hopeful' the play area will finally be able to go ahead.

There are also plans for a skate park, but the project at this time is focusing just on the play area.

Cllr Page said: "We have had a play area in Beaminster forever, I played there as a child and I took my own children there as a parent."

But the facility is so old as to be 'embarrassing', she added.

"We should be able to do better, as a town. When we did the town plan we asked people what they thought about the facilities and 81 per cent of respondents said there is not enough for young people to do."

She added that she is grateful to WDDC for getting the loan request on the agenda so quickly, as the SDLAG grant is dependent on it.

The WDDC report states that the project will replace an old, ‘unfit for purpose’ play area and that landscape designer for Sport England Aileen Shackell has designed the new play area. The town council has already funded the design cost of the project.

SDLAG will meet on Monday to discuss whether to approve the grant funding application – but it’s subject to confirmation that full funding of the project is already in place.

The report adds: “A tender of £97,078 has already been accepted by Beaminster Town Council for the play area project. Subject to funding being agreed by both West Dorset District Council and SDLAG, the play area project is due to begin in April 2018 and take approximately eight weeks.

“It is proposed that West Dorset District Council forward fund the play area project cost of £97,078. On completion of the project, SDLAG will reimburse Beaminster Town Council a grant of £80,000.”

The loan would be repaid with interest of base rate plus one per cent by March 31.

District councillors will make their final decision on whether to approve the loan today, Thursday, at a meeting at South Walks House in Dorchester.