PROMISED funding to build improved play areas in the county has been clawed back by the Government - leaving plans for a new £34,000 park in Eastcombe in ruins. The proposed site beside Thomas Keble School will no longer be developed after the Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove pulled the plug on the two-year nationwide Playbuilder scheme. A further £9,000 earmarked to improve play facilities in Summer Crescent, Stroud, has also been withdrawn, although Stroud District Council has since stepped in to replace the shortfall. Currently in its second year, the Playbuilder programme has already created 12 new play sites across Gloucestershire, including parks at Lawnside in Nailsworth and Jubilee Field in Cam, at a cost of around £530,000. The eight projects that have now been halted will save the Government around £380,000 as part of its continuing cost-cutting initiatives. Plans to revamp community facilities in Summer Crescent have been in the pipeline ever since the Summer Street Area Residents’ Association staged a consultation on the matter three years ago. Stroud Town Council pledged £19,000 towards the project and this was match-funded by SDC, which has now provided a total of £28,000 including the emergency £9,000 to rescue the scheme. Residents are now spearheading the project themselves and hope to complete the new play area by next spring. Gloucestershire County Council has been instructed to halt spending or committing any Playbuilder money that has not already been processed and district councils, which are coordinating the projects locally, have been informed of the funding withdrawal. Just two sites, in Bledington and Chipping Campden, which are already under construction and due for completion in September, will now be finished. Paul McLain, deputy leader of GCC, said: "This is a frustrating situation for all of us who worked to bring Playbuilder funding to our communities. "Given the mammoth scale of the national debt and deficit, I understand why the coalition Government has had to make such significant savings. "Inevitably, that is leading to some difficult decisions here in Gloucestershire. "We will continue to lobby the Department for Education about our Playbuilder schemes and we should find out if funding is still available for the three play sites where contracts have been entered into by the end of August." Stroud town mayor Andy Read, who has worked alongside Summer Street area residents, said: "We are more than happy to let them dictate what facilities and equipment they need because they are the ones who have to live with it. "They are delighted that SDC stepped in at the last minute because it would have been very disappointing for them to have the rug pulled out from under their feet at this late stage." * Is it fair of the Government to deny communities play areas or is it a small price to pay to help ease the national debt? Leave your comments here...