'Urgent' Tilehurst playground replacement works approved

The council has approved the essential works costing almost £250,000 at Blagrave Recreation Ground in Tilehurst.

Reading Borough Council (RBC) carries out regular detailed playground inspections and the latest have highlighted issues at the Tilehurst playground.

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Play equipment for juniors and toddlers was installed at Blagrave Recreation Ground in the 1980s.

This is now some of the oldest equipment in Reading and has reached the end of its life, according to the council.

The entire junior and toddler play areas will be replaced.

A public consultation on plans for the site ended on February 3, which allowed residents to choose between different designs.

Plans for playground revamp

READ MORE: Reading playground revamp – have your say

RBC says the play areas are “intensively used, given the location of the recreation ground is the centre of Tilehurst and close to schools and full replacement is necessary”.

What has been done in recent years to improve playgrounds in the town?

Reading Borough Council currently manages 56 playgrounds.

A growing population is adding to the demands made on leisure infrastructure, increasing pressure to refresh and augment facilities, particularly in larger parks, the council says.

In 2017, a full review of all playgrounds was carried out highlighting investment needs and a £3.8 million programme was developed.

Recent investments have been made to improve play areas at Palmer Park and Prospect Park.

In 2019, a tree fell next to the play area at Prospect Park. Although the tree was in good health, the ground underneath was eroded by an underground spring in spate after the wet winter.

The council approved £350,000 of spending at Prospect in January 2020, to move the play area to a different location.

At Palmer Park, £100,000 has been invested in play facilities.

Accessibility issues

Expenditure on new playground equipment also seeks to address current accessibility issues identified across the council’s play areas, to improve accessibility for all.

Access to play equipment can be a problem both for children with a disability and for children with carers living with disability.

The council says it is aware of these issues and has been seeking consciously to address accessibility over the past two decades.

It says its aspiration is to provide good quality play opportunities for all children in the borough.

Replacement outdoor gym

The council has also approved plans to replace an outdoor gym at Amersham Road, which will cost £24,000.

In 2020, RBC removed the multi-station gym facility at Amersham Road for health and safety reasons, as it had reached the end of its life.

The council says the area is “deficient in equipped play facilities, and investment in new equipment is needed to realise the council’s aspirations for access to excellent leisure facilities for all”.