A CWMBRAN Park is to have a new lease of life thanks to an injection of £103,000 of Lottery money.

The money will be used to install new play equipment for children, as well as picnic tables and benches to encourage more families to use the park.

The funding was secured from the Big Lottery Fund by the Friends of Cwmbran Park community group, and the equipment will be installed and maintained by Torfaen Council.

Carl Touhig from the Friends of Cwmbran Park said: “This is fantastic news for families in Cwmbran.

“The park has real potential but it is hardly used at the moment and there is nothing for the children to play on. We know that there is a huge appetite to see it brought back into use, and to have somewhere safe for children to play.

“We have been asking local children about what they would like to see in the park and their ideas will be fed into the final design.

“Local communities deserve to have facilities like these but we can’t expect the council to do everything for us.

“It’s not been easy getting this funding but a lot of people in the community play the lottery every week and I hope the park will be seen as a jackpot win for everyone.”

The executive member for neighbourhoods, Cllr John Cunningham, also welcomed the news.

He said: “The Friends of Cwmbran Park have done an excellent job in securing this funding and they have spoken to more than 1,000 local residents about what they would like to see in the park.

“Work will shortly start on the project and I hope that the park will once again become a destination that the whole family can enjoy.”