Playgrounds
Maidstone council is working to improve play areas in the
borough.
The 2004 - 2008 Play for Today strategy is an exciting
development which aims to ensure that all residents are within a 15
minutes walk of a play area. This is to help promote
outdoor play and healthier lifestyles for children of all ages with
a particular emphasis on providing facilities for teenagers.
The Green Space Strategy Advisory Committee is responsible for
the Play for Today initiative.
Over the four year period we have refurbished and
developed many of the existing play areas as well as inherited and
developed new ones.
Recent play area improvements include Arundel Street, Giddyhorn
Lane, Foley Park (East Ward) and Stevenswood (Shepway South); as
well as the ever popular Mote Adventure Zone at Mote Park.
Work is now being undertaken to identify which play areas
require further improvements from 2011 to 2017.
Consultation events - July and August 2011
As part of our work to review park facilities we are
carrying out consultation work at Park Wood and Mote Park looking
at outdoor fitness equipment.
Park Wood Recreation Ground
SATURDAY 23RD JULY 2011 between 12noon and 4pm - Come and
have a go on the latest Outdoor Gym equipment for parks.
Staff will be looking for your comments on the benefits of this and
other adult and youth outdoor fitness equipment.
Mote Park (near the Cafe in the Park)
TUESDAY 9TH AUGUST 2011 between 11am to 4pm - the latest in
Outdoor Gym and Parcour (Free Running) equipment. Again
you'll be able to try out the equipment and tell our staff what you
think about adult and youth outdoor fitness equipment.
Playbuilder 2010-11
As part of the national Playbuilder Programme MBC was
awarded £50,000 to develop a brand new natural play space for Mote
Park aimed at the 8 to 15 age group. A consultation was
carried out in July 2010 with local young people between the ages
of 8 to 15 to find out what type of play activities young people
want in the new space.
From that work a final design was developed by Kompan Play
Limited, which you can view here.
Access to the new Play Space is via the entrance into Mote
Park next to the Willington Street Park & Ride
entrance.
Big Lottery Children's Play Programme
For 2008-2011 Maidstone Borough Council secured a bid of
£274,141 from the Big Lottery for four new schemes in the
borough. These are:
- Park Wood Recreation Ground Play Area Scheme
- Upper Fulling Pits Play Area Scheme (Vinter's Park)
- Mangravet Floodlighting scheme
- Clare Park (Fant)
These play areas have now been installed. As part of the
Big Lottery funding Youth Involvement Work is now being carried out
at Park Wood, Clare Park and Mangravet.
Information about the sessions at these three sites can be found
at the Be Free website.
2009-10
For 2009/10 we improved the play area at Arundel Street in
North Ward. A localised consultation was carried out with
surveys being posted to residents and discussions with local Ward
Councillors. Through the results of the consultation a design
brief was given to our Play Partner HAGS Play Ltd, for them to
complete a design for the refurbishment.
See
the final design here.
Find your nearest play
area.
Find out
about our play area consultations
Parish Play Areas
Maidstone Borough Council also strongly supports the work of the
Parish Councils and local Trusts for their Play Areas. Each
year we contribute grants to Parish Play Areas. For 2009/10
grants were awarded to: