Six children's play parks get ready for upgrade

Six play parks in a West Sussex city are to be refurbished at a cost of £800,000.

Chichester District Council consulted children, parents, grandparents and carers last year on what needed improving at play areas in Sherborne Road, Whyke Oval, the Amphitheatre, Priory Park, Florence Park, and Oaklands Park.

The council then offered the refurbishment contract to three firms and judged each of their submissions on play value, quality and community benefit.

Work is set to begin after Easter and finish at the end of the school summer holidays.

Council leader Adrian Moss said: "As you can imagine, there is a lot of initial work to be done beforehand, especially since we are working on several play areas."

Mr Moss confirmed that work will be carried out in phases, meaning children in the city will always have access to a play area throughout the summer holidays.

"Outside play areas are vital for helping our children develop physically, socially, creatively and emotionally, and I know that this project will make a huge difference," he said.

"We are very excited about what they have proposed for each of the sites and the next step will be to gather final comments and suggestions from play area users as part of a second stage of consultation that will take place.

"This is an exciting and ambitious plan to provide major upgrades to our city play areas and will bring significant benefits to younger families living in our district."

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