A FORMER Second World War airfield in Oxford will be transformed into a play paradise for bike fans this month.
Work is expected to begin next week to revamp Littlemore’s Herschel Crescent Recreation Ground after more than two years of planning.
Littlemore parish councillors, along with city and county councillors, have secured more than £80,000 of cash to install a custom-made BMX track along with new playground facilities.
David Henwood, city councillor for Cowley and Littlemore Parish Council vice-chairman, said: “It’s really heartwarming that people can see a value in this and are behind the project.
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“We have had loads of positive feedback from the community. It’s not just the councillors but the community wanting to come together to build our own park.
“The park at the moment is a blank canvas and this will hopefully be the first stroke.”
The project first took off in 2013 after a consultation with Cowley and Littlemore residents to discover what facilities families wanted in the area.
But last August plans to build a BMX track at the recreation ground stalled after soil from the Blackbird Leys pool project proved unsuitable.
Up to 1,000 cubic metres of soil with a high clay content is needed to create the track, which would be 50 to 70 metres long by 30 metres wide.
After an appeal in the Oxford Mail, councillors will now buy soil from a specialist company which will also work on the track’s design.
Plans also include a picnic area, a basketball hoop, football pitches, an event pavilion and woodland seating.
Mr Henwood said: “It is sandwiched between Littlemore, Cowley and Blackbird Leys so it will include all areas.
“It’s important to continually develop things for people to do and that promote a sense of community.”
Mr Henwood said he also hopes 400 trees, which will be planted to create a “runway” through the former airfield site to link Cowley and Littlemore, will be in place by the autumn.
He added: “I think now that it’s 100 years on since the First World War it would be appropriate to think about the history of the recreation ground and celebrate what it has done in the past as an airfield, an orchard and allotment site.”
At the end of last year about £82,000 had been awarded to the project from not-for-profit business WREN, Littlemore’s Cardinal House development, the parish precept and the Big Society budget.
And at Christmas councillors united to raise the final funds needed, donating £4,500 from ward budgets.
But they are now appealing for help to fund tarmac and gravel paths, which would allow wheelchair access throughout the recreation ground.
Mr Henwood said they received an initial estimate of £50,000 to install new paths, and they were hoping groups and organisation would come forward to sponsor the project.
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