TWO play parks in St Austell are benefitting from upgrades costing a total of more than £30,000.

The park off Landrew Road has been given new swings and a new safety surface, while the Meadows is due to have a wheelchair accessible roundabout and safety surfacing installed.

The schemes are being paid for by St Austell Town Council which has shared a before and after picture of the swings at Landrew Road showing the big improvement.

The council says the wheelchair accessible roundabout for the Meadows is on order and hopefully should arrive for fitting in the spring.

The council put in a bid for £30,000 from the Cornwall Council Community Infrastructure Levy Fund (CIL) to pay for the work to replace “dilapidated play equipment”.

CIL payments are made by developers and then set aside by Cornwall Council to be spent on infrastructure projects to benefit communities and support development.

Five per cent of the levies is retained by Cornwall Council towards the cost of running the fund, and between 15 to 25 per cent of the payment goes to the town or parish council where the development has taken place.

The remaining money is used to deliver infrastructure that will help alleviate the wider impact of development. Applicants for funding need to show how there is local need and community support for their project, as well as how the projects will help alleviate the impact of development in an area or support development.

Town council received around two-thirds of the money it requested.

A Cornwall Council official told the town council in December: “This was a competitive application process with projects scored against a range of criteria, resulting in some difficult decisions having to be made. However, I am pleased to advise that your application has been successful and your project has been awarded £20,005 of CIL funding.”

The park improvements needed a budget of £30,085, so town councillors agreed £10,080 from the town council’s playground reserve should be spent.