Inclusive play areas unveiled in time for summer fun

An extensive refurbishment programme to improve play areas at several Derby parks play areas is complete. Derby City Council has carried out the work to provide modern, inclusive, and safer environments for children and families to enjoy.

Following a series of community consultations, the revamped sites at Willowcroft Road Recreation Ground, Stockbrook Park, Knightsbridge Recreation Ground, and Queensferry Gardens Park are now open to the public. The design of each space was directly informed by local feedback, ensuring the new facilities meet the needs of local communities.

All the revamped play areas have new, exciting equipment tailored for fun, adventure, and active play. They have been designed to be inclusive, so children of all abilities can play and enjoy the park together. Equipment includes a wide range of swings including an inclusive swing seat on each site, various climbing structures with slides, wheelchair-accessible roundabouts and play panels.

To enhance the experience for families, new benches and picnic seating have also been installed. New boards featuring Widgit Symbols and the British Sign Language (BSL) alphabet will be installed later in the year.

The works were funded by the Council’s Parks Capital Programme Fund and Section 106 developer contributions.

Councillor Ndukwe Onuoha, Derby City Council Cabinet Member for Streetpride, Parks and Leisure, said:

We’ve worked in partnership with our local communities to make sure these play areas are what they wanted, and I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved.

These new facilities provide children with a fun, safe, and inclusive place to get outside and play together. We can’t wait to see families out there enjoying these brilliant new and improved play areas.

Christian Hadfield, chair of Friends of Spondon Parks, welcomed the improvements at Willowcroft Road Recreation Ground. He said:

We’re delighted to see investment being made into improving local play areas for children and families. The new equipment and refreshed space will provide a safe, welcoming, enjoyable and exciting environment for young people to play, stay active and spend time outdoors together.

These improvements will make a real difference to the community by creating a space that families can be proud of and enjoy for many years to come.

The play area improvements follow the installation of outdoor fitness areas at Mickleover and Alvaston. The inclusive outdoor gyms at Vicarage Road Recreation Ground and Alvaston Park now feature a range of new cardio, resistance, and calisthenics equipment.

Both sites have been designed to accommodate a full body workout for a broad range of ages and abilities. The designs were chosen following consultation with the public last year.

You can find more information about Derby’s parks and open spaces on the InDerby website.