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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Richard Youle

Community council to consider £1.2m stake in park revamp project

Community councillors in Mumbles are to consider contributing £1.2m to a long-awaited park project.

They will debate a motion which its supporters say will guarantee the delivery of four new changing rooms, public toilets, medical room, referees' changing room and an all-weather pitch at Underhill Park.

The project is being taken forward by a local organisation, Mumbles Community Association (MCA).

The association has planning permission for these facilities, as well as for a community space with a cafe and a second block of changing rooms.

But, despite some grant funding, the project is stalling.

Community council vice-chairman Will Thomas, who has put forward the motion with two colleagues, said he feared the Underhill Park upgrade might not go ahead unless action was taken.

"This is a shovel-ready project that will transform our community - it is time for Mumbles Community Council to step up to the plate," he said.

The existing changing rooms at Underhill Park (Jim Young)

The proposal is to underwrite the project up to £1.2m over three years, and also plug any future maintenance deficit of up to £15,000 per year for three years.

The £1.2m would comprise a low-interest loan of £840,000, plus £200,000 already set aside by the community council and a further £160,000 in reallocated funds - and it would come with conditions.

The funding proposal said loan repayment costs should not exceed £89,250 per year over 10 years and that they could be incorporated into the existing community council precept without a budget increase.

It also calls for an immediate grant of £40,000 to MCA to enable it to go out to tender for the work.

The motion will be debated at a remote community council meeting on May 27.

MCA trustee David Wilson said it was applying for various grants and had been offered £25,000 by the Welsh Rugby Union, among other contributions.

But he said the financial backing proposed in the motion would be a "game-changer".

He said: "If it's approved, it would be a major breakthrough for us."

Longer term, the MCA, which is to lease Underhill from Swansea Council for 125 years, wants to build a larger community building with a gym on the other side of the park.

Martin O'Neill, the community council's new chairman, said: "This project is something that has been discussed and desperately needed for a long time and many on the community council want to make sure that it plays a central role in ensuring that it is delivered.”

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