Rain halts work at recreation ground

GROUNDWORKS at the new recreation ground in Sonning Common may be delayed due to bad weather. 

Work at the £519,000 amenity off Reades Lane started at the end of March and was due to be completed this month or next but may now be put back by up to two weeks following the heavy rain in May and at the end of last week.

Diana Pearman, who chaired the working group that planned the facility, told a meeting of the parish council that there had been “significant” amounts of water on the site last week and the drains were blocked.

She said the water had run off Reades Lane, adding: “Drainage on the site itself is secure, which is important, but we need to do something about the fact this road will be an issue for us. Possibly we need extra drainage in that road.” 

The issue has been reported to Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, and Fix My Street. 

Blakedown Sport & Play, of Banbury, has been working on levelling the site and installing drainage.

Meanwhile, the council has agreed to call the recreation ground Memorial Park after the Kidmore End war memorial hall next door.

This follows a survey of villagers which showed almost two-thirds of the 668 respondents were happy with the name compared with 14 per cent who were against it and 20 per cent who said “maybe”.

Mrs Pearman said: “It’s quite clearly supported by residents but I would quite like to add some sort of strap line to it.

“I want to connect it to the fact that the groundworks were done during covid so it could be a memorial for those people who died in the pandemic.”