A RIVERSIDE and sculpture trail will be set up in Burnham after a council voted to approve the £20,000 project.

More than 30 residents put forward ideas to Maldon District Council, with councillors making a final decision from a four plan shortlist at a meeting of the community services committee on Tuesday.

The committee agreed on a riverside woodland and sculpture trail to be developed in Riverside Park.

Within the woodland there will be a sculpture trail involving works from artists from the area, and it is hoped it will provide opportunities for community planting with schools.

The plan is to create a sustainable community woodland inside the park.

The scheme should be completed by March 2018 and will cost in the region of £20,000.

The council opted to go with the officer’s recommendation in approving the woodland trail, over the other three plans which included an observatory, an oyster sculpture and pathway to paradise along the marina.

In supporting the woodland trail, councillor Flo Shaugnessy praised the impact it could have on young people in the area.

She said: “I agree firstly that a friends group for the project would be a good idea if we were to go ahead with this. I would like to come at it from the point of view of this being a good space for children and schools in Burnham. I can support this.

“Whilst I have been involved in Maldon in Bloom we have managed to get all of the schools in Maldon involved with the project as well as several of the nursery groups. It is not difficult to encourage schools to get involved in projects like this and I think this would be a wonderful facility for young people in Burnham.”

Not all the councillors agreed with the proposal however, with councillor Andrew Cain saying he could not support it.

He added: “I think this is just spending money for the sake of it. I would be saying exactly the same if it was in Maldon as well. All this project will create is vandalism.

“These are not small amounts of money. Just because they have got the money to spend, why spend it on something that is obviously going to be vandalised. I cannot be positive about this at all.”

The community services committee passed the motion with a vote of four to one in favour.

The decision will now be taken back to the community in Burnham for consultation.