Councillors have agreed to install a memorial bench in a park, pending the completion of certain checks.

Six out of seven members of Oakham Town Council voted to permit the installation of the bench on a playing field in Oakham at Wednesday's meeting (July 8), but delegated the council clerk to confirm "legal and governance" prerequisites have been met.

The council agreed that if any obstruction were to arise, it "wouldn't necessarily say no you can't have it", but would find out what needs doing to "satisfy the point that's missing" – a process that "wouldn't necessarily" require the proposal to go back to the council.

Locating the bench in the park on Princess Avenue was agreed to by the donor, who is the bereaved partner of the deceased resident whom the bench would memorialise.

The council heard that the bench location had been "promised" to the donor before final council approval – a situation described as "unique" and one that would require "handling in a sensitive way". The council was told it has a written policy on park benches but "nobody could find it".

A concrete base was voted through for the bench, but Councillor Ben Callaghan expressed his misgivings regarding the bench's material type and maintenance costs.

He said: "For future reference we need far more detail before making decisions on things like this. We don't even know what the bench is made from. If we've got to undertake maintenance, then we need to know that it will be low maintenance, otherwise we'll have a millstone around our neck."

"It's a bench for goodness sake – we're talking about a bench!," Coun David Romney replied.

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Cllr Romney abstained from voting through the motion on the grounds that the council had "made a meal out of a bench".