Forty Thousand Pounds for a few rocks and ropes. Mein Gott im Himmel.

I welcome the playground for the kids but the expenditure seems barmy.

I know labour also required but surely could use youngsters on benefit rather than them resting in bed.

I was in Kensington Park at the weekend (very posh children and parents) they have a children area which is absolutely huge and fun for both parents and children, there are different areas to explore and the pirate ship and tree houses are all sturdy enough for the adults to accompany the children In fact it is actively encouraged.

I spent a good few hours there and could have stayed for longer had the hunger not set in.

Would it not be possible to do something like this in forest hill. Obliviously on a smaller scale??

My family visited the Mile End Climbing Wall recently and in the park close to the canal was an Outdoor Gym. It was like an adult playground but with treadmill, exercise bikes, cross trainers,etc. It was great fun ! . This the company http://www.tgogc.com/ ( The Great Outdoor Gym Company )
On their web site they say:-

Park Leisure to supply Great Outdoor Gyms to Local Authorities

The Great Outdoor Gym Company is really pleased to be working with Park Leisure to launch the Green Legacy Gym and the Street gym within Local Authorities. Park Leisure has a proven track record of high quality installations and exemplary customer care in Local Authorities in the UK.
If you are from a Local Authority please contact a representative of Park Leisure : http://www.parkleisure.com or telephone 0800 0197009[/i]

Madasahat

I'm not sure about this; on paper it sounds great however the playground is not well used and hard to manage as the area is used constantly with people walking their dogs and letting them run wild. There is dog poo everywhere including inside the small childrens climbing area. It never seems to be managed or cleaned.
I've often been there alone with my child when some of these people have arrived with their pit bulls and its not been a comfortable experience. I hope any plans include a sound management strategy as somehow I feel all this investment will be otherwise wasted. Personally I think a play area for younger children should somehow be incorporated into the Horniman Gardens to obtain some critical mass of attendance and to make management easier. The Triangle should remain a local dog walking area and the Horniman Gardens made a dog free zone. In the meantime its still Dulwich Park for us.

There is currently quite a bit of activity in the Play Park towards delivering the improvements available from extra funding. I am looking forward to seeing the finshed results. With reference to some previous posts, if you do not visit the Play Park on a regular basis, how do you know it is not well used?

We walk past it quite a bit- and we keep walking until we get to Dulwich Park! Whenever we have visited it, which was regularly in the summer whenever a quick trip to the swings was required, there was hardly ever anyone else there.

I hope the improvements make a difference however it still feels a little eerie so not encouraging of future visits.

Swings may have been unusable after rain but they were good and high. Unlike the poxy ones at Dulwich / Peckham and any other recently built play areas.
Triangle's always been well used in my experience Roz despite its neglected atmosphere. I just hope this renovation's not half-***** and that they introduce some sort of dog electrocution device to enforce the ban.

Lots of visitors today to this little play park. The Stonehenge-styled spider?s web seems to be going down a storm with the children.

Are there swings now and/or anything new there?

We have now visited the triangle over Xmas and yes there is a rather fine rock climbing thingy there but no swings. Fiona Alleyns email to Vipes in September suggests that the swings may be replaced however they appear to have gone altogether.

I would therefore like to know who did the demographic research to establish that facilities for very young children such as swings were no longer required.

I would like to know more about the overall expenditure on this park. Are they really saying that ?40k has gone on the rock climbing structure? It doesn't even have a proper safe surface- only rubber matting over the grass. This will become problematic when it starts to grow and will become very slippery, also it does not provide adequate protection if children fall.

The rest of the playpark is still in its awful state - is that it now or are we to expect more improvements? I can't believe that available money has gone to provide one completely new item to the exclusion of everything else.

Perhaps local councillors could comment? Thanks.

I also think the place looks a bit odd without swings. I've got access to some very tough Scaffolder's rope and with the Hornimans permission would be happy to go down and sling a few lengths over the more sturdier tree branches to make a rope swing with a Tyre tied to the bottom.

Concerning the Plague pit I've always been told they exist but could have been misled. All the same it would be interesting to have a look, and for the record disrupting a plague pit poses no danger to the local population as the Bubonic plague was a bacterial strain of virus and would have died hundreds of years ago.

Just to let you know, Lewisham Council's Green Scene division have let the contract to improve the play park, and the phase one works will be complimented via the Play Builder scheme, which include some very exciting equipment for young people. These works will commence in January, and be completed by the end of March 09. We have also arranged for a copy of the layout to be placed on the noticeboard in the park this month.
The redundant toilet block will be demolished in January, and we hope to have the cafe open for the spring/summer 09.
As to possible plague pits, bubonic plague is a bacterium, not a virus, or a combination of both, which is carried by infected fleas usually on rats. It still exists, although it is possible to cure it if caught in time.

Thanks, Susan. It would be helpful to have the plans and proposals on this website- is that possible?

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/...ut2009.pdf

I can't quite work it all out, but still don't see any swings...

That's the problem with resident consultation! Colleagues of mine in Lambeth are currently embroiled in a huge row with residents about a state of the art new playground that they have built. Loads of consultation and asking residents what they wanted, and no one ever mentioned swings. So they designed a playground without swings.... Now the residents are complaining that you can't possibly have a playground without swings! No one mentioned the swings, because they assumed that they were a given. And you know what they say about assuming... Take note, Lewisham, before it's too late!

Thanks for the document Calvin

Looks interesting but rather limited, doesn't it? I see one climbing net, a sand playing area and a water playing area. I'm assuming one or other of the play areas, probably the water, will break down in a relatively short time (call me a pessimist, but the more intricate and complex, the more likely they are to break down and no-one comes to fix them)

Where are the slides and swings? These are definitely important. Where can we give feedback or input?

what is the fuss about the slides and swings, seems very inappropriate, a bit like putting a banana in a kabab.

the play equipment selected seems more stimulating than a repetitive swing or a slide that takes you back and forth like you are suffering from OCD.

i just noticed the bike stands though, and i hope these are not the ones you jam your tyre into, as they have at FH library, these are totally useless and a complete waste of money as you cannot lock your frame to them, just your quick release wheel that everyone seems to have these days, better not to have them, the idiot that specified them at the library needs a punch, was this you mr mayor?

but i have got to say that there is a lot for ?40k, i'll be more impressed if the cycle racks are not what i think they are.

Maybe this is just a part of the overall plan. Navigating from Lewisham's Horniman Triangle page, it indicates that this drawing is for the old paddling pool area. It is, however, the only drawing published there.

ah! that would make sense, thanks Calvin

still have high hopes for this park, so eager to see the whole plan

Agreed, this is just the plan for the old pool area and I have to say I'm impressed. The sand areas in Greenwich Park and St James' Park are great and this one looks even better. Hopefully it'll be properly 'policed' and maintained so that it doesn't become a giant dog litter tray though.

With this stuff, the other climbing kit, a cafe, hopefully swings and slides I'm finding myself almost in a state of shock that the park might actually become a brilliant local facility for kids and parents - far beyond what I'd expected.