COUNCILLORS gave the thumbs up to plans for a new play area to share space with an allotments site.

Organisers behind the Vicarage Lane Play Park appealed to area committee seven on Tuesday evening, to help fund plans which will see the park finally get off the ground.

The play park will be on the site of the disused allotments between Vicarage Lane and Benton Road, Ilford.

It will take up half the space, with the rest being made up of restored allotments.

Plans are being drawn up for the play area and it will need to be signed off by the council.

The government has already given permission for the land, which was previously reserved just for allotments, to be used for leisure purposes, the meeting heard.

Councillors were told that the project, which has been in the pipeline for around two years, could cost more than �250,000 and that charity funding would be applied for.

Nearby Canon Palmer High School and St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School have also agreed to give �20,000 a year between them.

One of the trustees, Roger Backhouse, told the meeting at The Downshall Centre, Aldborough Road South, Seven Kings, that he wanted to “create something lasting for the future.”

He said the play park would provide vital open space in the area and added: “I hope we will see changes in months rather than years.”

Newbury Cllr Elaine Norman said organisers of the play park were “hiding their light under a bushel.”

She said: “I would like to pay tribute to them for the work they have done to get this job done. “St Aidan’s School desperately needs play facilities.”

Valentines Cllr Shoaib Patel said: “I also welcome this project. It will benefit the area and it is encouraging to see both the schools are behind it.”

The committee agreed to give �2,338 towards the project.