16/10/03 - Play area for foot and mouth village

A new play area for children at Great Orton, which suffered greatly in the foot and mouth disease epidemic of 2001, is being officially opened on Friday October 24. The ceremony is being carried out by Councillor John Collier, chair of Cumbria County Council’s Carlisle Local Committee and county councillor for Dalston and Cummersdale  and Carlisle District Councillor for Burgh ward.  Also in attendance will be Councillor William Little, the chair of Great Orton Parish Council. 

Councillor Collier said: 

“Cumbria County Council is extremely pleased to be able to do something through First Aid For Cumbria for Great Orton, and particularly for its children.

“The village suffered terribly during the foot and mouth outbreak. The disease was not only present in the surrounding farms, but the people here had to endure the movement of up to 150 lorries a day bringing carcases for burial at the nearby airfield, which was one of the main disposal sites in Cumbria.   

“The children were unable to use the existing football pitch and play equipment for much of that year because it adjoined farmland. They were also unable to play in the village because of the dangers from the heavy traffic.

“We hope that the new play area will bring happier times and pleasanter memories for all the village.”

Every household in the parish has been invited to the opening and the children have been invited through the village school.

The project was to upgrade the existing play area and football pitch and provide new drainage and fencing and play equipment. Village children were asked what they would like to see on the new play area.

Funding has come from Cumbria County Council’s First Aid For Cumbria (£25,000) and

Carlisle Environmental Trust (£3,600), with any shortfall coming from the parish council.