Bournemouth Playground Strategy 2009-14 (Updated January 2011) 1
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Bournemouth Playground Strategy 2009-14 (updated January 2011) 1. Introduction Bournemouth has approximately 164,000 residents, it forms part of the second largest conurbation in the South West and is predicted to grow further. The majority of children live in the north of the borough (see fig. 1). Figure 1: Density of population of children and young people across Bournemouth 2001 At the end of 2008 Bournemouth Borough Council owned and maintained a total of sixty-two playgrounds within public open space, a further three playgrounds were available for public use across the Borough owned by third sector organisations or the private sector. The quality, size and popularity of public play areas varies considerably, from small sparsely equipped sites such as Chesildene Drive in Muscliff, through to large destination play sites such as Redhill Park – which has a large equipped play area, paddling pool, café and toilets. Chesildene Drive – an unequipped play area The cost of installing and maintaining public playgrounds has risen significantly over the last 20 years for a number of reasons, including costs of raw materials, increased safety and fencing recommendations. All children’s play areas in Bournemouth are currently gated or fenced and designated as dog free areas under local byelaws. Since 2003 a programme of ensuring all equipment is surrounded by safety surfacing where appropriate to comply with current British Standard BSEN 1176. The state of public play areas has gained significant national attention over the past two years both politically and within the media. The creation of the national body Play England has resulted in the generation of a great deal of research into children’s play, looking at best practice examples both within and outside the UK. Most new housing development within the borough is infill, predominantly flats in place of family housing along the coast and central area. There is shortage of family housing, and new houses tend to have small gardens or no garden space at all. Bournemouth recognises that parks and public open space play an important role in providing space for active and imaginative play. It has been recognised by the government that public play areas can contribute significantly to quality of life for children and young people, helping to improve mental and physical health, co-ordination and learning. As a result of this work the way we think about and design public play areas is now changing rapidly, with more thought being given to the spaces between play equipment and the use of a variety of natural materials and natural spaces to create adventurous and stimulating environments for imaginative play. A modern naturally inspired playground in Vancouver, Canada. Bournemouth Borough Council recognises the importance of public play areas and how they can contribute to quality of life for children, young people, parents and grandparents. This strategy looks specifically at one element of a wide play agenda which is being addressed as a whole by the current and subsequent Play Strategies for Bournemouth and Poole. 2. Policy Background 2.1 Nationally the government’s aims for play through it’s Play Strategy are: a. in every residential area, there is a variety of places for play, free of charge, supervised and unsupervised; b. local neighbourhoods are, and feel like, safe, interesting places to play; c. routes to children’s play space are safe and accessible for all children and young people; d. parks and open spaces are attractive and welcoming to children and young people, and are well-maintained and well-used; e. children and young people have a clear stake in public space and their play is accepted by their neighbours; f. children and young people behave in a way that respects other people and property; g. children, young people and their families take an active role in the development of local play spaces; and h. play places are attractive, welcoming, engaging and accessible for all local children and young people, including disabled children, children of both genders, and children from minority groups in the community. 2.2 Play England have been established to champion play for the government and help to embed best practice in play development within local authorities. Two key guidance documents they have produced are: Design for Play and Managing Risk in Play Provision. 2.2 Bournemouth has been grant aided £1.1m of Playbuilder national funding through the government’s Play Strategy to develop or improve 22 play areas across the borough between April 2009 and April 2011. 2.3 Bournemouth will continue to be guided by national and international best practice and guidance for both the design and management of risk within play provision. 2.4 Locally Bournemouth has a shared Play Strategy with Poole (Our Space Strategy, February 2007), which shares a similar vision to the Bournemouth Plan for Children, Young People and their Families 2006-11 – both aiming to provide children with the best possible start in life, including giving opportunities to be healthy and have fun. 2.5 Bournemouth has had a public playground strategy (within its Leisure Strategy) since 1996, which until 2007 broadly followed National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) play guidelines. The Leisure Strategy includes a paper on play which sets out a programme of playground development and maintenance based on meeting the former recommendations for equipped play provision. The NPFA standards have proved difficult to deliver in terms of both quantity and cost. 2.6 In developing its Green Space Strategy (2007-11) and Play Strategy (2007 jointly with Poole) Bournemouth consulted widely on how people used public open space and what they liked / disliked. We worked with children across all age ranges, parents of younger children and Bournemouth Children’s Society. Work included: • An art and poetry competition (with over 200 entries) entitled my ‘perfect green space.’ • Questionnaires for parents of pre- school children (47 responses) • Primary School Children (workshops, DVD film & 208 questionnaires) • Secondary School Children (707 online questionnaires) • Disability Forum (workshops with over 20 disabled people attending) • Ethnic/Religious Minority Groups (workshop/questionnaires with 31responses) • Monthly visitor surveys at 15 major parks since September 2005, informal ‘drop-in’ surveys of parks and play areas, and scoring audits of over 100 parks and open spaces across the borough. 2.7 Research recognised one of the greatest inhibitors to children playing in the park (especially under 11’s) was that they were not going there on their own and parents were not inclined to take them for long periods. 2.8 We concluded that each neighbourhood area of the town needed a quality park, where children can play for longer and parents or carers might be tempted to stay longer. These need a high quality play environment, café and toilets. 2.9 The following are adopted policies on play from the Green Space Strategy, which will be progressed through the Playground Strategy: PA1 An equipped play area should be developed for the Central Gardens (in the putting green area), with seating and public access to the café facility at the Bournemouth Tennis Centre. The Crescent Road play area could then be closed. PA2 Additional play opportunities should be considered in Meyrick Park, Knyveton Gardens, Durley Chine and Springbourne. PA3 Provide play areas linked to libraries at Winton and Springbourne, including café and toilet facilities, to increase the appeal of a visit to either the library or the play area, whilst creating a more supervised environment to reduce anti-social behaviour. PA4 Local Areas for Play should be monitored to see if provide a useful play function. PA5 Should Local Areas for Play be found to be of little use, consider concentrating funds on fewer play areas, but ensure that they are better equipped and maintained. This should form part of a review of the Playground Strategy. PA6 Develop further teen zones in town, separate from younger children’s play areas. PA7 Investigate a new adventure facility at Queen’s Park with associated catering facilities. 3. Current Situation 3.1 Currently the Borough has an annual playground capital budget of £50,000 for new play equipment. 3.2 Over the last decade the borough has also collected developer contributions to improve leisure facilities across the borough. Approximately half of this money can be allocated to improvements to formal and informal playgrounds and related facilities. It is predicted (based on current building levels) that a further £650,000 will be collected for playground development from 2009 to 2014. 3.3 Between 2009 and 2011 a further £1.1m will be made available to improve playground facilities across the Borough through national Playbuilder funding. 3.4 Sources of income for the period 2009-14 are therefore predicted as follows: Source Playground Improvement Fund £250,000 S106 Developer Contributions £650,000 Playbuilder Funding £1,100,000 Total £2,000,000 3.5 Currently it is estimated that a play area will – on average - require complete refurbishment every 15 years, although maintenance will be required on all equipment and safety surfacing during this period. 3.6 Bournemouth has two dedicated playground inspectors using an electronic playground management system to track condition and repairs, carrying out weekly visual inspections and quarterly physical inspections of all play equipment. Annual insurance assessments are also carried out. 3.7 The 2003 Leisure Strategy proposed a total of 79 dedicated play sites under then old NPFA standards comprising 23 large play areas, 41 local play areas and 15 unequipped local play areas. The borough could have a better distribution and quality of provision with fewer sites, with an overall improvement to play accessibility across the borough as a whole. (See in Appendix 1 – Playground Strategy Maps 2009).