Agenda item

The Panel will consider a report and a presentation which sets out the progress made in delivering the Council’s Playable Spaces Strategy.

Contacts:

Will Acornley, Head of Operational Services

Catherine Little, Programme Manager, Environment Services

The Panel considered the Playable Spaces Strategy Update which was presented by Will Acornley, Head of Operational Services and Catherine Little, Programme Manager, Environment Services. It was highlighted that:

·         Many play areas in Kirklees had been built up over several years and had now reached the end of their economic life.

·         In recognising the value in play, the Playable Spaces Strategy included significant investment in refurbishing play areas in Kirklees.

·         The strategy was designed to move away from traditional mechanical play areas to play facilities that sat more naturally in the local environment.

·         A key focus of the strategy was to build play spaces around the needs of communities to design inclusive play areas for all ages and abilities.

·         The initial draft policy was introduced in 2019 and was reviewed following feedback from Councillors towards the end of that year.

·         Development of the strategy was then delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic which started in March 2020. Delivery of the strategy recommenced mid-2020.

·         Understanding what communities wanted was central to the strategy and the delay in implementation allowed more time to create recognisable branding for the project and to set up the website to drive engagement.

·         The level of public engagement had been very successful, and the variety in the designs of each play area was reflective of responding to the needs of each individual different community.

·         To date, 14 sites had been delivered including Beaumont Park which had received very positive feedback and Westerly Way, which included a mix of old and new style play equipment.

·         The delay in delivery caused by the pandemic also created time to incorporate delivery lessons learned into future plans.

·         Lessons learned included using the Section 106 programme, which ran alongside the Playable Spaces Strategy, to ensure resources were managed effectively and to enhance the work undertaken.

·         The need for robust governance and reporting processes to support the delivery of the sites was also recognised and implemented.

·         There had been some criticism in respect of communication with Councillors.

·         To improve this, monthly updates sent by email were introduced to provide Councillors with regular progress updates and explain any delays effecting play space refurbishments in their wards. These updates were being received positively.

·         The relevant Cabinet Member Portfolio Holder also received a full update on all ongoing projects regularly.

·         There were some challenges around manufacture and delivery timelines due to raw material availability and longer delivery times from Europe.

·         Delays were managed by ensuring this was factored into the lead-in time to ensure accurate start-on-site dates.

·         There were also some challenges in respect of team capacity.

·         To mitigate this a more focused approach was introduced to allow Parks Development Offices, the Programme Manager, the Parks Services Manager, and the Project Support Officer to concentrate on where their skill set was best used.

·         In summer 2021 2 new Landscape Architects were also recruited whose primary focus was Playable Spaces to help work through the backlog of phase 1 designs.

·         A further 2 new Landscape Architects were to be recruited this year as more Phase 2 and Phase 3 sites came on board.

·         Some of the site-specific budgets were tight and this needed to be balanced against designing to meet expectations.

·         The strategy encouraged nature and more natural elements to be incorporated into outdoor play spaces.

·         This was a new and different ask in terms of long-term maintenance.

·         To mitigate this a dedicated Grounds Maintenance Team would be appointed whose focus was to maintain the more natural-style play areas.

·         Feedback from communities regularly highlighted the need to incorporate better accessible play equipment into the new designs.

·         Feedback from public engagement identified that people would be willing to travel for accessible play and there was scope to explore the option of implementing a flagship accessible play area at a destination park.

·         External influences such as inflation were also being taken into account when considering the long-term delivery of the strategy.

·         Inflated costs across the industry led to higher tender returns which exceed site budgets .

·         This had been highlighted through the Governance process and senior managers were in agreement that the Council would absorb inflated costs in the short term and then report on Phase 1 overspend to analyse future requirements.

Responding to a question from the Panel about finding out about developments in their ward and the plans for Crow Lane and Two Furrows parks.  Will Acornley suggested that a briefing be arranged with that Panel Member where an update could be provided.

The Panel raised a concern about young children being intimidated by older children exhibiting anti-social behaviour in parks and asked about plans to separate older children’s activities from the younger children’s play equipment in play areas. In response, Will Acornley advised that it was important to take a holistic approach when designing play areas which considered play through age and ensured that investment was made into equipment that was suitable for all ages. Community engagement was also essential to understanding who was using the play space, who wanted to use it and how communities’ priorities could be accommodated this through the design of the play space.

The Panel asked a question about what selection criteria was used when choosing which play areas to invest in, and whether these were all council owned play areas or private? In response, Will Acornley explained that during the early phases of the development of the strategy various aspects were considered such as age range of the facilities, when those facilities would be reaching the end of their life, and when the facilities were last refurbished. Prioritisation of which spaces would be refurbished in the first phase of the strategies delivery was also heavily influenced by ward councillors through engagement with members. Future phases of the strategies delivery would also be led by engagement with ward councillors. Will also confirmed that all the play areas being refurbished were council owned.

In response to a question from the Panel about community opportunities, Will Acornley advised that the implementation of the strategy was fully community led and there was a well-established network of community groups that were engaged with regularly, including friends of parks, third sector leaders and volunteer co-ordinators who worked in parks with local communities. Strong, recognisable branding and the website was the main vehicle for community engagement and was effective.

In response to a question about alignment with the Cultural Heart regeneration strategy, Will Acornley reassured the Panel that his teams were informed on the development of the Cultural Heart, involved in some aspects of delivery, and were taking a co-ordinated approach.

The Panel highlighted that it was important to engage with pre-schools in relation to play areas. Will Acornley responded to highlight that in delivery the playable spaces strategy that the objective was to engage with all key stakeholders, and it as important to continue to develop and improve the approach. Will agreed that engaging with schools was important and would be incorporated into engagement plans going forwards.

The Panel raised a concern where some residents were upset when a fence was removed from a local play area for young children, as this allowed dogs into the play area. Will Acornley responded to advise that park fencing, and gates were a relatively new feature in parks, and when the initial strategy was developed it was identified that a large portion of the maintenance budget was spent on gates and fencing to reduce liabilities rather than the play equipment. Therefore, it was decided to phase out fencing and gates where it was safe to do so.  Will also highlighted that in the delivery of the strategy the aim was to engage and communicate with residents as much as possible, but this in some circumstances led to mixed feedback and the need to compromise on some decisions.

The Panel commented on the importance of distance to play areas for young people, adding that where there were not effective pedestrian links that parents would need to drive their children to play areas, which went against Climate Change priorities and also that local plays areas were important to building community ethos. Will Acornley responded to agree with the Panels comments and highlighted that through the planning regime and policies some parks had been placed in communities that did not want or need them, and left others needing to travel to a place space.  Creating a Master Plan for wards was one possibility that might help address this. This idea was still in a conceptual phase but would aim to take a holistic view of play spaces within a ward, understand what the local community needed and where, and then considering how this influences planning for play areas going forwards.

Responding to a question from the Panel about the maintenance of the play areas, Will Acornley confirmed that the establishment of the dedicated grounds maintenance team was quality driven. In the short-term, section 106 funding would be used for maintenance, but work was to be undertaken to assess how this would be brought back into budget in the long term and the play areas were brought back into their economic life. Though the report referred to citizen opportunities in maintenance, Will confirmed that maintenance was the responsibility of the council and that there would be no expectation for citizens to take on maintenance responsibilities. There were plans to engage with friends of parks and other community groups to identify where there was an appetite to help and to provide opportunities for those groups.

The Panel questioned dedicating current destination parks as accessible play spaces where parking was already at a premium during peak times and may cause difficulties for users with mobility problems. Knowl Park was suggested as a good central location for a new destination park to be developed as an alternative. Will Acornley responded to agree with Panel members comments, adding that the approach to accessible play was still being developed taking learning from other local authorities.

Responding to a question about what the criteria was for creating new play spaces and the funding for these, Will Acornley advised that there was £9.5 million of capital investment in the Playable Spaces Strategy which would begin to be used in the next significant phase of development due to start in May 2022.  If through master planning, it was identified that it made sense to create new play areas for community benefit it may be that capital funding was diverted or enhanced to do this. This was still conceptual and would involve further engagement with administration and ward Councillors.

The Panel noted the Playable Spaces Strategy and thanked officers for their contributions. The Panel also expressed their congratulations in relation to the positive outcomes already achieved through the delivery of the Strategy.  It was agreed that:

1.    A briefing be arranged with Cllr Iredale in relation to plans for Crow Lane and Two Furrows Parks.

2.    The Panel welcomed approach taken to engagement but added that engagement with pre-schools should be undertaken as a part of this in the future. 

3.    Continued engagement with the Cultural Heart was important to make sure the strategies were aligned.

4.    It was important to continue to investigate ward master planning in the development of play areas.