A Cambridge play park feared to be removed in face of new development is safe, the city’s council said.

The petition ‘Save St Thomas’s Play Park’ was presented to councillors this week, calling for a review of of a council home project they feared could cause the loss of the park.

However, the city council said the park would remain and suggested it could also be improved.

In September 2021, the city council agreed to put together proposals to build new council homes at the St Thomas’s Road garages and playground in the Coleridge ward.

A budget of £2.1million was set aside for the scheme.

A petition signed by 69 people calling for a review of the “emerging plans to develop” the play park and the wider green space, was presented to councillors at a meeting of the city council’s housing scrutiny committee on Tuesday June 20.

The petition organisers highlighted that the park was a protected space under the city council’s local plan.

They said redeveloping the garages next to the park “makes sense”, but said: “The principle of losing existing public open spaces in wards with current open space deficits should not be contemplated.”

They also said there had been a “vacuum of information” regarding the proposals.

Councillor Sam Carling, the executive councillor for open spaces and city services, said it was not proposed to remove the play park.

He said: “While the development would need the existing equipment to be removed, it would be replaced with either the same equipment in a slightly different location, or better equipment.

“I know there has been concern from the community about underinvestment in the play park, so this would be a really good opportunity to bring in better equipment and solve some of the issues of the existing park. I hope we can work together with the wider community to do that.”

Cllr Carling said the number of houses proposed to be built on the site had been reduced from 11 to seven following consultation with people in the area.

He added that 69 per cent of the existing green space would be kept, and that a new “high quality community garden” was also proposed to be created over the road.

Cllr Carling said: “I hope that is reassuring. As a council we take our green spaces very seriously and we care very much about making sure that all residents have high quality green spaces nearby.”

He added that another consultation was planned in July, after which a planning application for the development is due to be submitted for the project.