Preston playground revamp could 'double the number of days it can be used'

The play area on Tanterton Green, off Bowlingfield, will also see a range of new equipment installed in order to appeal to older age groups.

The grass surface beneath some of the existing kit is prone to waterlogging, putting parts of the facility out of bounds after heavy or prolonged rain.

As part of the £25,000 project, new rubber safety surfacing will be installed - improving the look of the site and ensuring it can be used in conditions that currently put a dampener on play.

The scheme is being funded by Ingol and Tanterton Neighbourhood Council after Preston City Council, which owns the land, approved the work at a cabinet meeting.

Neighbourhood council chair Neil Darby said that feedback from locals was that the playground “could be better”.

“It’s been well used, but it could be used more throughout the year [than it is]. Preston being Preston, we do get an awful lot of rain - and sometimes, for a period of time afterwards, some of the equipment can’t be used.

“So we’re perhaps doubling the number of days each year where it is possible for children to play on that equipment,” Cllr Darby said.

He also told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the neighbourhood council wanted to maximise the capacity of the Tanterton Green space - with the health centre and village centre nearby - to act as a community hub.

“We’re lucky in that Tanterton Green means we have got a really good public facility in the centre of the area - and it’s ideal to be able to expand on it and give people of all ages something to do.

“In [the case of the playground], it’s geared towards younger people, but it’s part of the aim that we’ve got to make Tanterton Green a good facility for the whole community.”

The city council’s parks and streetscene team will provide project management and landscape design support for the project, which has also been fully funded by the neighbourhood council to the tune of £2,300 - a figure that is included within the overall budget.

However, the ongoing routine maintenance costs of the refurbished play area will be covered by the town hall from within its existing resources for such work.