Latest news with #playparks
BBC News
7 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Highland Council to make £100,000 upgrades to play parks
Highland Council is set to make improvements to a number of children's playparks across the Black Isle and Cromarty Firth areas.A total of just over £100,00 has been awarded to improve play equipment and safety in Alness, Invergordon, Evanton, Munlochy, Cromarty, Culbokie, Rosemarkie and Fortrose are set to council said these sites were chosen following local feedback and condition surveys. Money for the upgrade has been allocated through the local authority's Capital Programme, as well as other key sources including the Scottish government play park renewal will include the installation of new swings, seesaws and ziplines in some of the parks, and the creation of a sensory garden in Evanton.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Portsmouth council votes to make play parks more accessible
Play parks in Portsmouth could become more disability-friendly after city councillors voted to draw up plans and find funding for accessibility comes after months of campaigning by mum Sophie, whose daughter Millie is a wheelchair user. Sophie said changes were "desperately needed" and accessibility in Portsmouth parks was currently "basically non-existent". The city council said in a statement: "We are absolutely committed to continuing to explore every opportunity to ensure that our play parks are as accessible and inclusive as possible. Many of the council's 124 parks contain at least one piece of inclusive equipment, such as adapted swing sets, trampolines and wheelchair-friendly roundabouts, the council said. But Sophie said despite new equipment being added, children like her daughter still were not able to physically access it because of the woodchip flooring. "Pretty much all of the Portsmouth parks are on woodchip," she said. "So, for wheelchair users, or those that use walkers - they can't get to that equipment."Woodchip is not wheelchair friendly due the loose, uneven surface, and government guidance states that it should not be used for accessible surfaces."They've spent a lot of money, but haven't done a particularly good job," she said. "Portsmouth City Council need to start holding their own public consultations before they spend money on making mistakes." Labour councillor Charlotte Gerada tabled the motion after meeting with Sophie. She said she had heard from many other families facing the same barriers and wanted the council to push up its standards. But she said replacing the woodchip could be "very costly", and they were not expecting every single park in the city to be made accessible due to a lack of council resources. "We understand it's expensive to put a playpark in and equipment isn't cheap, when new equipment is being rolled out or new parks are being put in, inclusive design should be at the heart of it," she said. At the council meeting, Ms Gerada said the council had consulted play experts - specialist council officers - about the parks' equipment. "But the play experts are children," she said. "Other nearby towns like Fareham and Havant do have much more accessible playparks."There's still very little, minimal, equipment in Portsmouth."A city council spokesperson said: "Over the past two decades, Portsmouth's play spaces have been transformed, with more diverse and inclusive equipment, despite no central government funding being made available for the past 16 years." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Mum pushes for ‘mandatory safety checks' at play parks after son fractures spine
A CONCERNED mum is calling for mandatory safety checks on children's play parks after her eight-year-old son fractured his spine in a fall from a climbing frame. Axel Potts, of Whitehaven, was playing on the equipment at St Bees play park on May 8 when he fell onto matting which his mum, Kerry Potts said was 'severely worn', with 'metal links' exposed. Axel, who has non-verbal autism, was taken to hospital and it was discovered he had suffered a small spinal fracture. He is now awaiting an appointment with the orthopaedics team. Axel Potts, of Whitehaven, who has non-verbal autism, next to the climbing frame at St Bees play park (Image: Submitted) Kerry has set up a petition pushing for mandatory health and safety checks for all children's play parks every three months, amid fears that the state of equipment is putting children at risk of serious injuries. St Bees Parish Council, which is responsible for the play park at St Bees, said weekly safety checks are already carried out by volunteers and councillors and a 'more technical' monthly check is carried out by Cumberland Council. Repair work has since been undertaken on the matting by Cumberland Council. Recalling what happened when Axel fell, Kerry said: 'He was climbing down from the top of the wooden pirate frame and fell backwards from a bit of a height. The flooring of the park and the safety padding isn't well maintained. 'We took him straight to the hospital. He's got a small compression fracture. Because of his autism, Axel doesn't really show pain. The doctor was surprised he was still walking and running round. 'It's made him more wary. He's a very energetic little boy. Because of his autism, the sea is his calming place. He loves the sea.' New matting has been installed by Cumberland Council on part of the area around the climbing frame at St Bees play park (Image: Submitted) She said Cumberland Council had repaired the area of matting which had metal links sticking out but the part where Axel fell was still hard worn and would not cushion a fall. Doug Sim, chairman of St Bees Parish Council, said: 'We do have quite a strict regime of safety checks. Every week, all the equipment is given a visual check by a rota of councillors and volunteers. They do it against a detailed check sheet. 'On top of that, every month we have a more technical check by Cumberland Council, at a higher level. Then we have an annual report by an independent assessor. We get a detailed report of the whole play area. 'We got to know about this via a post on Facebook. The next day we did an assessment of the site and later in the day we applied some rubber padding around what we thought was the cause of the problem. 'There were some metal links which were part of a piece of play equipment that had already been there. We put some rubber round them as a temporary solution. Later in the week, Cumberland Council installed a new piece of mat. 'This is the first time we have seen this type of accident.' A Cumberland Council spokesperson said: 'At the request of St Bees Parish Council, who manage the play area, we undertook some repair work on the matting. This work has been completed.' To sign Kerry's petition for enhanced safety protocols to be put in place at all play parks, go to:
