MONEY has been set aside for the construction of a new play area in Aldersbrook after a long campaign by residents.

If budget proposals are approved, £70,000 will be earmarked for the construction of an area on Wanstead Flats on land owned by the Corporation of London and administered by the Epping Forest Conservators.

Residents of the Aldersbrook Estate currently have to walk three miles to their nearest playground in Wanstead High Street and a 300-name petition was handed to councillors demanding action.

The council is still negotiating with the Epping Forest Conservators to secure permission for the construction and council officers are planning to meet the forest's superintendent next month.

Cabinet member for leisure and libraries Cllr Joyce Ryan said: "We want a new play area but it is provisional on us getting their agreement. Having gone so far down this road we are very hopeful."

Last month the council together with the Aldersbrook Families Association circulated a questionnaire to 2,000 homes in the area asking for their views.

Simone Rauxloh, of Wanstead Park Avenue, Wanstead, has a young daughter and has been campaigning on the issue for two years.

She said: "Initially we wanted a playground on a derelict site at the end of Empress Avenue but it's not that safe there. There's always something happening there and it is not that pleasant. We are looking for a site that would be overlooked."

The last playground on the estate was shut 15 years ago after repeated attacks by vandals.