New play area for Berrow

7:20pm Tuesday 7th October 2008

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VILLAGERS in Berrow are celebrating a new £73,000 play area rising from the ashes of the destroyed Phoenix Pavilion.

In 2005, the village was left devastated by a fire which burnt down the local football ground before a huge campaign was launched to help the Phoenix rise from the flames.

Thanks to generous donations as well as hard fundraising and campaigning the pavilion was eventually rebuilt last year.

Now the village has been handed another vital boost after Berrow Parish Council secured complete funding for a new Multi Use Games Area.

Work is now underway on the floodlit facility, which will provide a range of sports including netball, tennis, basketball and football, all of which will be available for hire.

Berrow Parish Council clerk Lynn Smith told the Weekly News the sporting centre was given the go-ahead after the authority finally rubber stamped funding from various sources.

She said: “Work on the MUGA has now began thanks to £46,000 from Sedgemoor District Council, £6,000 from Somerset County Council, and £19,500 from waste management company Viridor.

“This is a huge project for us and we are really excited to see its development begin and we hope it will be completed in the next week or so.”

Parish council chairman Jenny Bentley added: “The parish council is delighted with this development, which builds on the investment made previously in the Phoenix Pavilion.

“We have plans in place to improve the grass playing surfaces in the summer of 2009, which will bring together the hard work and vision of parishioners and the council over a number of years.”

For more information on how to hire the MUGA, contact Berrow Parish Council on 01278-793124.