An aerial runway and natural play areas are among some of the exciting features that will be developed at seven play sites across the borough as part of Islington Council’s Playbuilder project.
In the south of the borough, Bentham Court and adventure playgrounds Toffee Park, Three Corners and Waterside will all be transformed; whilst Trecastle/Pendryn Way in the north, Parkview Estate in the east and Aubert Park in west will also benefit from investment in 2009/10.
Islington was selected by the Government in 2008 as one of the first local authorities to receive £1.173 million of Playbuilder money over three years. The money will be used to build new or refurbish existing playgrounds and play areas across the borough. The latest selection of sites forms phase two of the project.
At Trecastle/Pendryn Way, £70,000 will be spent on improving the health and well-being of children and young people from two estates through the development of a new play area. The well established and popular Toffee Park Adventure Playground will have over £43,000 spent on creating a natural play area. This will incorporate a vegetable garden, mature trees, a variety of plants and an exciting aerial runway.
Islington Council’s Executive Member for Children and Young People, Paula Belford said:
“Islington has the second largest number of adventure playgrounds in London and the council is spending millions making them places our young people really want to go to. With so many children and young people in Islington not having access to a garden of their own, it’s only right that the council provide free, safe, open places for them to spend time outdoors.
The seven play spaces invested in as year one of the Playbuilder project will be completed soon and I’m looking forward to seeing the new high quality facilities and spaces opened up and ready to be enjoyed by local communities.”
Each of the year two Playbuilder sites was selected according to the needs of the area. Factors such as levels of deprivation, the number of existing play spaces and the amount of children living in that area were all taken into account. Each group putting forward a bid also needed to show how they would include young people and children in the development of plans for the site.
The seven Islington play areas that received investment in year one of the Playbuilder project are now near completion. The first to be reopened will be Gambier House in Bunhill. £25,000 of Playbuilder funding has been spent on completely transforming the open space connected to the housing estate. A new play area for older children with climbing nets has been created, new seating areas developed and a range of shrubbery and tree planting has taken place. The remaining sites – Andover Estate, New Orleans Walk, Fortune Street, Sussex Way Gardens, Rosemary Gardens and Brunswick Estate are all due to be completed by the end of March 2009.
Islington Council will be receiving applications for phase three of the Playbuilder project towards the end of 2009.
ENDS.
Page Last Updated: 12 June 2009