Two major features of the Beacon Play Area on Bradley Stoke’s Jubilee Green were removed at the beginning of January after being condemned as unsafe during an annual inspection carried out by a specialist company.
The large wooden bridge and the teen shelter were found to have deteriorated beyond repair, according to a report presented to January’s meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council.
Premises manager John Rendell explained that the structure of the equipment had deteriorated significantly, with timber beams “rotting away above ground level and even more so underground”.
Mr Rendell added: “Lots of time and effort has gone into keeping the equipment safe over recent years and it didn’t come as a major surprise when we received the news.”
The Jubilee Green Beacon Play Area is one of a number of non-traditional play areas that were constructed across South Gloucestershire in 2009, with the help of a £454,400 grant awarded to the local authority by the Big Lottery Fund.
At that time, South Gloucestershire Council’s play development officer told the Journal: “These projects aim to provide a different approach to creating places to play for children. This is based on the idea of designing a whole landscape, which is fun to play in, combining natural and man-made features. The result should be attractive, usable by people of all ages and unique to the site.”
The Jubilee Green park was officially opened by the then town mayor Cllr Mark Forsyth on 24th July 2009. A charity, Friends of Jubilee Green, was formed to oversee further development of the park and organise community events, but this has not been active recently due to the group’s trustees being unable to commit time due to increasing commitments at work and home.
Outlining future plans for the facility, Mr Rendell said: “We have already started the [remedial] works and we aim to replace the pea gravel with a tiger mulch safety surface (funded by Friends of Jubilee Green), which will vastly improve the outlook. We will shape and mould the mounds where the bridge once was and we will be adding some much-needed new active play equipment into the play area itself, giving users a much more diverse play option.”
He added: “We are looking into the possibility of installing a ‘community seating area’ on the village green to ensure we cater for all age groups going forward.”
Detailed proposals are likely to be brought to a council meeting in February. It is hoped to have all the works completed before the summer months.
This article originally appeared in the February 2019 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 19). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH (except August), to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
