Crawley council urged to consult children on play area closures

Crawley council has now announced a consultation on proposals to replace the playgrounds with landscaped “community spaces”. It plans to maintain 14 other local play sites at their current standard and make improvements to a further three.

Before launching the consultation, council workers visited the play areas earmarked for closure during different periods of the day over the space of a fortnight. Throughout this time, the council staff counted the number of children using the facilities.

“These sites are underused due to the low quality of play equipment. Some are also not located in the right position,” said a Crawley Council spokesman.? “It does not make sense to maintain low value items of play equipment if children are not using them.”

But Play England argued that councils should use local play rangers to consult with children and observe how the play spaces are used over at least a year, before making “hasty changes”.

“Children of all ages need space to play outside, whether they are tots or teens,” said Catherine Prisk, director of Play England.

“Play England has worked with most local authorities over the last few years to improve the standard of design and of consultation with children, young people and their families. It is worrying to hear that Crawley are making changes to the offer for local children without making use of tried and tested consultation methods.”

Crawley council emphasised that it would be investing £800,000 in play provision over the next three years and said the removal of the play areas would not provide any financial saving to the council.

A spokesman added that it planned to introduce natural play features, such as mounds, stepping stones, and traditional playground games markings in the landscaped “community spaces”, depending on the outcome of the consultation.

“We need to make the best use of the resources available to us. This means investing in well used play areas while removing those that are not used and underused,” said Lenny Walker, lead member for leisure and culture.

Local people from the three affected neighbourhoods previously challenged the authority’s plans to remove four playgrounds, and successfully saved the areas.