New play area for village

Thousands of animals were buried at Great Orton

A village, which was the site for a mass grave during the foot-and-mouth epidemic, is to get a new play area for children.

Great Orton, in Cumbria, was badly affected by the outbreak in 2001, during which thousands of animals were slaughtered.

Up to 500,000 cattle, pig and sheep carcasses were buried on a former airfield in Great Orton.

At its height, about 8,000 animals a day were buried, making it the UK's largest single mass burial site.

Every household in the parish has been invited to the opening of the new play area on Friday.

We hope that the new play area will bring happier times and pleasanter memories for all the village Councillor John Collier

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.

Councillor John Collier, chair of Cumbria County Council's Carlisle Local Committee and county councillor for Dalston and Cummersdale, will officially open the play area.

He 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.

Heavy traffic

"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."

Funding for the play area 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.

The Rural First Aid project was set up by the County Council to support valuable community projects in the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis.