Playgrounds being given £2m revamp
CRUMBLING playgrounds have finally been given a new lease of life.
More than a year after Kirklees Council quietly scrapped an unpopular plan to rip out ‘traditional’ play equipment from more than 100 play areas in favour of boulders and logs, new slides,swings and climbing frames are due to be installed at parks in Thongsbridge, Golcar and Cleckheaton.
The council says it has invested £2m in upgrading play areas across the borough with projects in Wooldale, Shelley, Highburton, Newsome and Skelmanthorpe also underway or completed.
It has also confirmed that equipment removed due to coronavirus social distancing guidance – mostly swings – is in the process of being replaced at playgrounds across the borough.
The next park to benefit from a facelift is Sycamore Recreation Ground at Thongsbridge where parks chiefs are installing a mix of ‘traditional’ equipment and natural obstacles such as boulders.
It will feature new swings, a new climbing frame and slide and other items such a tyre traverse, suspension bridge and mini-roundabout.
A basketball hoop and football goal are also planned, alongside new benches and landscaping.
The council’s now-shelved £9.5m plan to remove equipment sparked anger among parents, children and even some of its own councillors.
While that plan was stopped in its tracks by the uproar, parks chiefs have not been clear about whether the new strategy will see every playground in Kirklees given a revamp.
In 2017, the council said it had 342 playgrounds, more than Leeds and Bradford combined, and so it could not afford to maintain them all.
ExaminerLive requested a list of parks set to benefit from upgrades but one was not provided.
A council spokesperson said: “Kirklees Council has been bringing exciting improvements to play areas across the borough over the past few years. Over £2m will have been invested in our play strategy with funding from our own capital as well as support from developers and other funding streams contributing to the projects.
“Irrespective of the challenges the pandemic has presented over the last year, we have continued to deliver and have completed refurbishment works on over half a dozen play areas including the award-winning Manor Rise, Newsome, with work due to start on further sites this summer.
“We will continue to ensure each and every ward benefits from this investment, engaging with communities and local councillors along the way. The reinstatement of play equipment which was removed following government Covid-19 guidelines has also started.”
A new parliamentary report on a ‘fit and healthy childhood’ has urged for major investment in public, free-to-use play spaces.
Research carried out by the Association of Play Industries showed that spending in recent years on play facilities has fallen by 44% since 2017/18, with 347 playgrounds closed since 2014.