A SIX-FIGURE sun will be spent on two play areas in South Swindon.

The facilities for children at Cambria Bridge Park and GWR Park, on Faringdon Road, were described as ‘very poor’ at the South Swindon Parish Council’s leisure and amenities committee meeting.

Projects officer Oliver Saunders said: “This would be a complete renovation. I’m proposing we completely get rid of what is there and start from scratch.

“We have reached a stage where we have three good quotes and it’s time to make the decision about which one we go for.

Three quotes were put in front of the group at this week's parish council meeting, with Mr Saunders suggesting that the most expensive one, at £63,716, should be taken forward at Cambria Bridge.

Included in these designs is two large climbing units with play panels at the bottom, a double set of swings, a small roundabout, two springers and a large single-point swing.

Brand new safety surfacing, fencing and two gates will be included as well.

Alongside the new play area at Cambria Bridge, the trees will be trimmed back at an original cost of £2,755 but with additional costs of £2,000 every five years.

Mr Saunders said: “I think the parish council is very interested in developing this park over the coming years so this would be the first stage of doing that.

“We want to make sure there is a strong train theme for obvious reasons.

“There is actually very little train equipment out there on the market so we hunted quite extensively to find this.”

Included at GWR Park will be a basket swing, two cradle-seat swings, one springer and a 9m train centre piece.

“I think it’s going to be brilliant,” Mr Saunders added: “Not that I’ll get to play on it, but the kids will definitely love that.”

Alongside the new kit and playing surface, late additions made by Mr Saunders included four play panels.

He said: “I decided that the fence could be used to put play panels on.

“There would be four play panels, two on their own legs, two on the actual fencing.”

The total cost for the new play area would come to £51,752.

That means GWR Park would cost around £12,000 less than Cambria Bridge to renovate, but it does not include new fencing or gates.

As the proposals have only just been approved, there is no timeframe for when construction will start.

Both projects together would cost £115,468.