Play areas to get £1.75m makeover
Maidstone council is to spend £1.75m improving the borough’s play areas over the next three years – but many will receive no cash at all.
It sounds a lot, but the council’s parks and open spaces manager Jason Taylor warned that to upgrade all the borough’s play spaces would cost more than £5m.
Of the town’s 120 play areas, 73 are owned by the council, the others belong to parishes or housing providers.
For the time being, the council is concentrating on 30 key sites, while ensuring that no resident should be more than 12 minutes’ walk from a “good” public play area.
Asked to define “12 minutes’ walk” – was that 12 minutes pushing a pram with two toddlers in tow? – Mr Taylor said it was 960m.
Mr Taylor warned councillors that those sites not identified as key would not see any re-investment. This would mean that as equipment became obsolete or dangerous, it would have to be removed.
Challenged by Cllr Jenni Paterson (Lib Dem) on what would happen if all the play equipment had gone, would the land be sold off?
Mr Taylor promised it would stay as public green space.
The borough hoped that some of the 43 play areas it would not be focusing on might be taken over by parish councils.
Authorities that did come forward to run the non-priority parks could claim a £10,000 grant towards the project.
In the first year, five play areas are to be upgraded.
They are: Stratford Drive, Ashurst Road, Foxden Drive, Gallants Lane, Timber Tops in Boxley and Nettlestead.