West Swindon Parish Council

This year, the Parish Council has brought a our £240,000 investment to bring an exciting update to seven play areas across West Swindon. We are excited to refresh these play areas for the enjoyment of local children and families. Many of the play areas also include fitness apparatus for those who are looking for more of a physical challenge. As announced by the Prime Minister on 23 June, playgrounds and outdoor gyms reopened from 4 July. You can find out more below.

We have issued guidance notices to all play areas and we encourage parents, carers and park visitors to take time to read about how to take simple steps to keep safe. A summary is available to read here . .

At Bloomsbury Park, local people told us that the toddler play area was past its best and the park is often seen to a focal point for teenagers to congregate. Here we are giving the existing toddler play area a complete makeover and adding some fitness equipment to the area by the ball court. We hope that teens and adults will enjoy having a new physical element to the space.

At the Chesters, we are improving the play offer for children under the age 5, including toddler swings which many people told us were sadly missing locally. We have also added some accessible play equipment and gravel pathways to assist anyone in a pushchair or wheelchair. For those using the area as part of a running or fitness route we are adding some static fitness bars.

Last year, we renovated the toddler play area at Camden Close, a short walk from the Holbeins. As part of this refurbishment, we will be focusing on giving the existing toddler play area a refresh of paint and bark and adding a swing. The youth area is being added to with new fitness equipment. We hope the combination of schemes at the Holbeins and Camden Close will bring some choice and diversity for local young people and families.

At Nine Elms Park, residents told us that the grassed play area gets very wet and muddy for many months of the year. The traditional timber play equipment was felt to be uninspiring and lacking in imagination. At this play area, there is a reinvestment in adding to toddler play whilst also adding some all weather footpaths and surfacing to keep the space useable all year round. There are a number of accessible features to ensure that children with a wide range of abilities and skills can enjoy the space.

At Shelfinch, families told us they wanted to see more traditional play equipment such as swings, slides and roundabouts. The space at Shelfinch includes large mounds so we are making use of this with a tube slide. Accessible equipment has been added too. The ball court has always been very popular at Shelfinch, so we are improving the goal ends and adding a new tarmac surface. This should keeps ball play alive and kicking for many years to come.

The Parish Council has had some problems at Tumpy Field with equipment being removed due to fire damage. It was important here to have a new design that would be robust and open whilst combining something for children of all ages. Both the toddler area and the junior play spaces are getting a brand new look. We hope you enjoy it.

Uxbridge Road is a tiny play area originally installed for use by a small number of households. The existing equipment is still useable but it was felt to be tired and dull. The tarmac area can attract anti social behaviour but is often used by scooters and bikes. Here we making some small improvements to give the play area a new look that we hope local children will make good use of.

All visitors and users of our play areas and fitness equipment must read the safety notices and take every care to follow the guidance. For more information please read Guidance and check the Government's website Government Guidance Please check regularly for updates