£9.5m work starts on child’s play
WORK has finally started on a £9.5m revamp of play spaces and recreation grounds across Kirklees after the project was derailed by the coronavirus.
So far 14 council-owned playgrounds have been upgraded as council chiefs embark on their delayed plans. A second phase of work will begin on May 9.
Officers who outlined the scheme at a meeting of Kirklees Council’s Economy and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel (April 7) were keen to remove the perception that the authority was closing some sites, although they admitted some smaller parks could be shut.
Plans to remove traditional swings and slides and replace them with natural features like logs and boulders were first unveiled in June 2017 and a list of play areas affected emerged in March 2019. More than 130 play areas were affected.
After the news caused uproar among parents, children and some councillors the scheme was shelved. Now the council has revealed that its modernisation programme is continuing with a move away from “traditional, mechanical, built environments” towards “natural-style play”.
Among the sites already completed are Beaumont Park near Netherton and Manor Rise at Newsome, which have allowed staff to test designs and to respond to suggestions through public engagement, which was described as “phenomenal”.
The council is also investigating how it can use Section 106 money, which is paid by developers as part of agreements when building housing or commercial sites, to get
“more bang for our buck”.
The money can be allocated towards infrastructure such as schools and play areas. In doing so it means developers are paying to create playgrounds and cover their future longterm maintenance.
Some money could also be used to move underused playgrounds that are not considered to be a benefit to one community to new locations. The council’s head of operational services, Will Acornley, said future master-planning “could involve looking at small, unused bits of parks that aren’t delivering any benefit to the community.
“Do we want to close those, change those, move those to enhance something somewhere else where it is needed?”
Mr Acornley also revealed the council was building a dedicated team to maintain play areas once they are delivered.
He added: “While we have a robust play regime we want to keep investing in these sites.”
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