Council approves £13k safety improvements for play areas

COUNCILLORS have agreed to spend around £13,000 on improving safety at a play area and Wellington Recreation Ground.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s environment committee gave the thumbs-up at their meeting on Wednesday (September 16) to splash out £4,564 on replacing safety surfacing surrounding a roundabout at the Dobree Park play area and a further £8,529 on improvements to the footpath at The Rec.

The council’s open spaces manager, Darren Hill, told councillors that they needed to remove the damaged surface at the play area and replace it with new, while the existing path at The Rec was in a very poor condition and presented a potential risk of slips, trips and falls.

“The existing play surface at Dobree Park has been badly vandalised and, as a result, the whole areas has had to be fenced off,” said Mr Hill. “The roundabout is currently out of use and public access cannot be permitted until the damaged surface has been removed and replaced with a safe, suitable surface.

“Although the existing play surface was already old and would have required replacement as part of a planned programme of works in due course, the vandalism has brought the work forward and made it an urgent health and safety requirement.”

Mr Hill warned councillors that continued deteriorating of the surfacing would probably result in increased costs at a later date.

“The existing path at The Rec, meanwhile, is in very poor condition and the current access path to the play area is not wide enough to provide suitable access for wheelchair users or pushchairs.

“If a wheelchair user or someone with a pushchair attempted to use the path while another person was coming in the opposite direction, there would be insufficient space for both users to pass safely.”

Mr Hill added: “Improving the path would therefore provide safer and more inclusive access to the play – particularly for those wishing to use the accessible play equipment.

“The proposed works also include an area of new hardstanding. This would provide a suitable and practical surface should there be a future requirement for an item of equipment, vehicle or other facility to be positioned or park in the location.”

Cllr George Western said: “In the interests of safety I think the onus is on us to get this work done.”

Councillors did not need to discuss the situation before making a quick decision to support the recommendations laid out in a report written by Mr Hill.

This included approving the necessary funding to allow the works to be completed as soon as possible to enable the fenced-off play area and roundabout to be safely returned to public use.

Councillors also agreed to delegate responsibility to council officers to move the works forward and liaise with the contractors to ensure the project is completed to the required standard.

Photos: Steve Sowden