Victoria Park plan stumbles
Plans for a £450,000 redevelopment of Stafford's Victoria Park have been called in by councillors.
Members of Stafford Borough Council's cabinet voted to press ahead with the scheme in April.
Currently at a consultation stage, the work is set to involve spending £150,000 of taxpayers' money, together with £300,000 taken from developers via Section 106 agreements, to refurbish play facilities at the popular town centre attraction.
During April's meeting, members of the cabinet said they wanted to create more facilities for teenagers and older children which they agreed were currently lacking from Stafford.
They then voted to send out letters to schools and colleges in the town asking young people what they would like to see created at Victoria Park and inviting them to send in designs.
However, the spending plans have now been queried by borough Labour councillors Jack Kemp and Geoff and Patricia Rowlands.
They have called in the plans to a meeting of the council's special leisure scrutiny committee tomorrow saying the implications of spending £150,000 need to be discussed further.
The amount would eat up the whole amount set aside for play area refurbishment this year under the borough council's budget.
Consultation on the work at the Victorian site begins next month and is set to end in August. If the refurbishment goes ahead as planned, it should start in the winter and finish by May or June next year.
The council says that if the work is delayed, meaning it cannot be started at the end of this year, it will be held over until next winter to keep facilities at Victoria Park open over summer 2010.
The council believes that a lack of provision for teenagers in the town centre contributes to vandalism and anti-social behavior both in the park and the wider town centre.
It says youths have been using the paddling pool in the park as a skate park, and using the play areas as a meeting point.
