PARENTS have complained the new £178,000 play park in Newquay is still in a mess two months after opening.

Richard Curtis, who owns the adjacent Little Western Railway, says he receives daily complaints about the state of the landscaping at Trenance Play Park.

He alleges various parts of the park have not been built up to standard and other parts such as the picnic area have not been finished.

The supposedly top soil full of stone and rocks ( )

Mr Curtis said: “The play equipment is lovely, but the groundwork is shocking.

A picnic area is due to be installed within a fenced off part of the play park ( )

“The supposed topsoil that was used in the landscaping is full of rocks and stones that children keep throwing at each other.

“They have used grass seed instead of turf so there are numerous bare patches. I don’t know how they expected grass to grow when they are so many children playing there. The landscaping that has grown is mostly weeds.

“The fence that was installed two weeks ago was originally forgotten so they had to dig holes in the brand-new tarmac path and the holes have still not been filled in.

“The lack of edging materials means the original landscaping of sand, soil and gravel keeps washing down onto the safety flooring which will in time encourage weeds to grow amongst the play equipment. Tree roots are sticking out of the banks where the digger has cut through them.

Tree roots are sticking out of the banks where the digger has cut through them ( )

“The area with the red fence has a slide on the plans which was to be reused from the old play area. Cormac came and took it away so there is now a soil mound for no reason in the main play area and the grass has failed to grow.

“There are still no picnic benches area for picnic area left overgrown.

“There is fencing closing off the area and two soil mounds have been added.

“The area is where children used to play football and sunbathe.

“It is now a wasted space, plus the ride on lawnmower now can’t cut that area so it will have to be strimmed which will take longer. The old flooring has been reused and is uneven and full of weeds.

“Apart from the benches it would not cost a lot of money to fix.

“If this was my business I would be asking for a refund.

“You would normally have the mayor to open a revamped play park, but no one wants to put their name to it.

“I want this sorted as I’m being asked questions by people about it every day.

“It’s embarrassing. It’s a £178,000 project and it’s still not done.

“Cormac has more resources than anyone in Cornwall and it’s still not finished.”

Newquay central Cornwall councillor Joanna Kenny is investigating the issue. Cllr Kenny said: “It is disappointing to hear that the play park has not been finished off properly. I will take a look and go from there.”

Lack of edging materials means the old landscaping is washing down on to the new floor ( )

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “We brought forward the opening of Trenance Play Area in April so children could enjoy the new facility during the Easter holidays.

“The new play equipment has been extremely well used and we have received many positive responses from residents.

“There is some outstanding landscaping which we are progressing while minimising disruption for park visitors.

“We are also taking into account how children and the wider community use the play area as well as the best times for growing vegetation.”

Newquay Central Cornwall councillor Joanna Kenny said: ““I met with the Trenance project team and also visited the playground for myself with a critical eye this week.

“It was great to see the playground was so well used and I was reassured that the team are well aware that the job is not finished until they get the landscaping done; not an easy task this year with all the varied weather we have been having. Mind you there are some short term snag fixing that can be done sooner and I’ll be nagging, if necessary, on those.”