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June 2021
News
Design selected for £105k play area redevelopment Exciting new facility to be installed over the summer, replacing “tired” equipment that has been there for over 26 years
A
popular but dated play area within the grounds of one of Bradley Stoke Town Council’s three activity centres is to be refreshed with an exciting range of new equipment after councillors selected a contractor for the £105k project. The play park at Baileys Court Activity Centre has been in use for over 26 years, but council officers say the equipment has become “tired” and spare parts are becoming harder to source. Following a formal tendering process which saw nine companies submit bids for the work, the contract for the project has been awarded to Kompan, a multinational supplier of playground equipment with a UK base in Milton Keynes. Council officers set a design brief that called for the park to accommodate as many children as possible and to consider inclusive and accessible pieces of play equipment, and as a result the agreed proposal caters for up to 95 children with 40 play activities. A report states: “The design has provided a wide assortment of different play experiences for a wider range of abilities and ages, children have the option of playing alone or with friends on the see-saw and multi play units. Kompan have catered for the needs of children/young people with disabilities plus the inclusion of adults and carers with disabilities.”
It had been hoped that a wheelchair accessible swing or roundabout could be included, but in the end, this was deemed impractical considering the small size of the site. Councillors will instead discuss the future possibility of placing such equipment in the Beacon Play Area at Jubilee Green, where there is more space. It is planned that the work will be carried out during the school holidays, starting on 23rd July and completing by 26th August. This is to make sure that the least amount of disruption is caused in the local area, particularly with
Above: Visualisation of the winning design submitted by Kompan Left: How the Baileys Court play area looks today
respect to “traffic, parking and parents dropping off children [at the nearby primary school]”. External grant funding of £44.2k has been secured for the project (comprising £30k from
Enovert Community Trust and £14.2k from Ibstock Enovert Trust), leaving the town council left to cover the remaining £60.5k of the £104.7k total cost. ● www.bradleystoke.gov.uk
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