Work at parks in Grangetown, Rhiwbina and Splott will be completed in May
WORK to upgrade three children’s play areas will begin by the end of the month, Cardiff Council has announced.
Grange Gardens in Grangetown, Caedelyn Park in Rhiwbina and Moorland Library Gardens in Splott are to be refurbished and expected to be completed by May.
“Once completed, the fully upgraded play areas at Grange Gardens and Caedelyn Park will be fantastic new facilities for local families to visit, and children from Splott will also be able to enjoy improved play facilities,” said Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Cllr Peter Bradbury.
“Inclusive, shared experiences are really valuable for children and I hope these refurbishments will encourage more children to enjoy the benefits of playing together outdoors.”
Work will include improvements to play equipment and new safety surfacing to prevent injuries from falling.
The play area at Grange Gardens in Grangetown will feature slides, rope bridges and climbing frames, as well as a playhouse, swings and wobble boards.
At Caedelyn Park in Rhiwbina, children will be able to enjoy a range of equipment for climbing, spinning and rocking on, including a fully wheelchair accessible roundabout – a standing platform with additional seats and handrails designed to allow wheelchairs.
Moorland Library Gardens is scheduled to have new safety surfacing, landscaping works and improvements to play equipment.
All three playgrounds have been closed since lockdown began in March and did not reopen in September after failing safety checks.
Meic Parry, 36, a Grangetown resident, said delays to reopening local play areas had been “frustrating”.
He has three children all under five and Grange Gardens is their local park.
“Who is suffering is children really because they’ve got nowhere [else] to go in Grangetown. People aren’t especially well off here and they don’t necessarily have a garden,” he said.
“Some people say, ‘Oh, we just lift them over the fence,’ but if you’ve got a new-born in a pram, that pram’s then outside the park and you’re looking after your other kids inside.”
Meic welcomed the news that work would be completed by the end of May, but felt the importance of children’s play areas had been forgotten about during the pandemic.
He added: “In the big picture it does offer protection. [In the main park] there’s all sorts of dangers really. What the playground offers is a little fenced off area. Maybe the equipment’s not up to scratch but it does offer protection in that sense.”
Labour councillor Ash Lister, representing Grangetown, is looking forward to the arrival of the new play area in Grange Gardens.
“My colleagues and I are pleased to see the Grange Gardens will be receiving a significant amount of funding to enable this regeneration of the play area.
“We completely recognise how well loved and missed this facility has been over the last year, since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic meant that it had to close.
“We are hopeful that work will be completed and that children will be able to safely enjoy new facilities within our community.”
