THE council ignored the view of parents and carers who offered their suggestions for a new children’s play area at War Memorial Park, the Gazette can reveal.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council held a public consultation prior to designing the new £155,000 play area, asking the public what they would like to see there.

As previously reported, visitors to the park expressed their disappointment when the play area opened this month, labelling it “boring” and “unimaginative”.

Now, we can reveal that the council failed to listen to many of the views of parents, despite asking for their opinion.

We asked the council to see a copy of the responses sent to its questionnaire.

They show that most respondents – 62 per cent – wanted timber play equipment, with 24 per cent requesting brightly coloured metal play equipment, and 14 per cent wanting subtle, natural coloured metal play equipment.

Almost 100 per cent respondents said they would like to see picnic tables in or around the play area.

The council has provided neither a timber play park or new picnic tables, instead installing metal and plastic play equipment with just one bench in each of the two parks, and leaving the old, worn picnic tables outside. 

One of the 14 questions in the survey asked if there should be natural play features like boulders or logs included in the play area.

Ninety-five per cent of those who responded said yes. Yet the council has not included these in the design.

Feedback also favoured creating an inclusive play area for all ages and ability, with a naturalistic feel.

It was suggested that the play area be bigger with more varied landscaping and equipment, enabling different styles of play.

Many respondents asked for imaginative play equipment such as dens, trains, or castles; active play such as in-ground trampolines; and explorative play such as a sandpit, tunnels and a wooden climbing frame with buckets and pulleys.

A council report on the feedback noted that parents wanted eating facilities, ideally a café or kiosk, and toilet facilities, with more shade, seating, and picnic tables in and around the play area.

One respondent said: “There is no point having family play facilities with no toilets for the young ones and arguably those with a need. You can’t go for a day out at the park as you then have to go into town to the toilets.”

They added: “I’m sure you don’t want people using the bushes. No point investing in good play stuff with no facilities for toilets.”

The survey asked if the play park should be fenced. A total of 99 per cent said that a play area for those aged up to 12 should be fenced.

Fifty-five per cent of these said a teenage area should be unfenced.

The council has created two separate parks, which it has been criticised for because it makes it difficult for those with more than one child who want to use different parks.

Neither park has been designed for teenagers and the questionnaire did not ask about creating separate parks for younger children. 

The council report acknowledged that the most popular request for equipment was for an increase in the quantity of swings in a variety of styles, and better slides in different designs to accommodate all age groups.

While the new parks do have a variety of swings, the council was again criticised for failing to install slides for older children.

Lucy Bekatoros told the council: “One of the bonuses of the [old] park was the large slide, now you’ve just got the generic slides that you can get anywhere.”

Climbing play equipment in diverse forms for all ages was also top of the list, such as nets and climbing walls, and a zip wire.

The new park does have a zip wire and climbing play equipment with nets.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s cabinet member for the natural environment and climate improvement, Cllr Mark Ruffell, said it does “value” comments and suggestions.

He added: “When considering upgrading our play facilities, we encourage residents to share their ideas and comments with us, particularly those who use our playgrounds regularly.

“We value all of these suggestions and consider every one of them when planning a new play area.”

However, he said various reasons had prevented them delivering a park to incorporate all the suggestions, explaining: “Budget, proximity of other play facilities, ongoing maintenance considerations and site constraints – including conservation area status, trees and root zones – we are often not able to incorporate them all into our final designs.”

He added: “The council manages 150 play areas across the borough and is working on a rolling programme to refurbish a number of these. This will continue to help ensure that there is sufficient quality play equipment in the future.”

The council defended itself against criticism of the play area, pointing out it has increased in size from 675m2 to 765m2, with an increase of seven items of equipment to 13, including a toddler and junior multi-play units both with a slide, toddle swings, seesaw, inclusive nest swing, junior swings, stepping-stones, and zip wire.

The new play space also includes a scooter track outside the fenced areas.

It said that the War Memorial Park play area required a “complete refurbishment” because of the age and condition of the old park.

The council said: “We value all of the suggestions we received as part of this project and have considered them as part of the final design however there were a number of facilities requested that were not possible to implement as part of this project. This included water play, sand, toilets and catering kiosk.”

It added: “There are a number of other considerations when planning upgrades to our play areas including budget, proximity of other play facilities, ongoing maintenance considerations, current legislation and play standards and site constraints. War Memorial Park is situated within a Conservation Area and as such, all the trees within it are protected.”

Referring to the request for timber play equipment, it said: “This was considered but due to a number of large trees located next to the play area, falling leaves from the trees could lead to an increase in potential slips and accidents. As a result, the design team opted for a muted palette of natural coloured metal and plastic material.”

The council said one park was designed for toddlers and young junior age children, with the second for older, junior age children who can play more independently.

It added: “The spaces are open in design to allow clear visibility between the two for adults visiting the site with children of different ages. In addition, additional seating has been retained within and outside of the parks.”