Stratton Council improve Swindon park with £55,000 budget

Stratton St Margaret Parish Council have revamped the Addison Crescent play area, to make the park safer and more inclusive.

New play equipment with new safety surfaces have been put in place with aims of massively increasing the play value at the park. There has also been specific focus on adapting the park equipment for children with disabilities. 

Cllr Robert Jandy, Swindon Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Heritage, Leisure and the Town Centre Experience, said: "There are a lot a children and families using this park today, and it just shows that the demand is there for these kinds of projects.

“I think it was a case of listening to what the residents wanted. We have a great piece of land here, which needed to be utilised. The most important thing was a play area for the children. Witnessing the use it is getting today just shows how important the improvements have been. We will continue monitoring the park to see if this project is something we can extend, and look into facilities for older children as well."

Stratton Council's Vice Chairman, Cllr Tim Page, added: “We’ve done these improvements without raising the Parish precept. We’re improving the parish without increasing taxes. We feel we are providing a good service for less money."

Cllr Jandy officially opened the already-busy park with a ribbon cutting. 

Addison Crescent play area now has a swing set suitable for disabled children, an inclusive basket-style swing, and three new interactive play-boards that are attached to the inside of the park's metal fencing. The park also features a roundabout that disabled children can use.

Stratton Council's Senior Open Spaces Officer, Oliver Saunders, said: "Play equipment for public areas is never cheap and our excellent contractor has delivered a quality job for us, so thanks to them. We will be monitoring this new area closely and if the equipment is a success we will investigate the potential for further improvements very soon. As always, we welcome feedback and questions from local people."

The council has introduced new equipment for toddlers and juniors, and safety surfaces have been used to create a ‘floor is lava!' area, for an added element of fun.

Acting Clerk, Amy Loxton: “The improvements we have made on the park have been a lovely investment into the local community and for our local residents. The park was in need of updating and we hope to update the rest of our parks. There are ten we are in charge of in total.

“We held a consultation to discuss ideas, and we focused in on thinking about facilities that would cater for those with disabilities. We feel we have achieved our aims of increasing inclusivity here. A lot of people have mentioned the addition of the disabled swing and our basket swing proved popular too.”

Cllr Jandy added: “Inclusivity was one of the main aspects we were thinking about. It wasn’t about ticking a box; it was about making sure we had the right equipment and that it was adaptable. We want to make sure different needs are supported.”

Children attending the park were forthcoming with their views on the new changes.

Matthew, aged 6 said: "The park is amazing because of the slide and the climbing frame. I will come back again!"

Raya, aged 9 described the park as 'funny' and 'good.'

Isla, aged 10 added: "I like it! The swings are my favourite."

 

Stratton St Margaret Parish Council social media links:

Twitter: @SSMPCSwindon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SSMPCSwindon

Instagram: @SSMPCSwindon