Urgent refurbishment and new play equipment for Barking Road Recreation Ground

£5000

Barking Road recreation ground is in need of a complete refurbishment. The small playground is worn out and unsafe for young children. The climbing frame, roundabout and swings are all damaged. This park serves many residents so first of all we need to increase the playground area as it is currently too small for the number of children who play there. The park itself is fairly big but most people come with children just to use the playground so we need to increase the size of this and I suggest gating the playground area to separate it from the open green space where others may be playing sports or having picnics. All the current playground equipment needs to be replaced with new safe and attractive equipment. This includes new and an increased number of infant and child swings. A nice big climbing frame with possibly two slides; one for infants and a larger one for older children. Also like many other playgrounds in the area, a zip line and seesaw would be lovely for all the children. Furthermore, the green space needs to be cleaned thoroughly and walkway/cycling path needs improving as currently parts are damaged making it difficult and unsafe to run/cycle on as many people also use the park for exercise. The park is currently used for funfairs in summer, which is great but it could be used for other purposes too. For example, firework displays could be held here on special occasions such as bonfire night, Eid, Diwali and new years eve which could discourage others from doing it on the streets at unsociable hours, which is firstly extremely dangerous and also disruptive to infants, the elderly and animals. If the green space is improved it could also be used for sports day for local schools in summer.

When voting for this project please also vote for the additional funding proposed by the working group that would allow the maximum of £20,000 to be allocated to these improvements.