STRATEGIC APPROACH

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council has introduced a strategy for play with the aim of providing high quality, accessible, safe and inclusive play spaces for all. PlayNation looks at the strategy in detail and speaks to council leader, Millie Earl, on what it all means

leader of BCP Council

APPROACH STRATEGIC

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) approved and adopted a wide-reaching strategy for play in December 2024. Called Plan for Play, the blueprint consists of three strategic documents: the Play and Wheeled Activity Strategy, Design Guide and Improvement Plan. Perhaps most importantly, the strategy is accompanied by a recommendation that the council should invest £3.9m in improving and developing play spaces.

Detailed plans

Plan for Play sets out how the play infrastructure should be managed, designed and improved. Its vision is both clear and ambitious: “To provide high-quality, accessible, safe and inclusive play spaces, where everyone of all abilities, across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, can learn, have fun and be active through play. All ages and abilities should feel safe, confident and excited to use our play spaces as part of leading fulfilled lives with brighter futures.”

There are currently 171 play sites across the BCP area comprising 1,175 individual pieces of play equipment (excluding fences, gates, benches etc). The council recognised that the play stock had been largely inherited from the preceding councils and was in major decline towards end-of-life soon. There was therefore a challenge to set out the future needs for play.

“Without investment, there is a real risk of wholesale removal of equipment and site closures,” the council says. “This will have an immediate impact, not only on the health and wellbeing of our young people, but also on the wider quality of green spaces, feelings of safety and levels of anti-social behaviour.

“The Plan for Play comes in three-parts – the main strategy document that provides the detail on spatial provision, state of play in BCP and a national context. It also comes with a design guide that will shape the quality and delivery of future play spaces. Within the strategy, there is an improvement plan which sets out how any funding that can be secured will be directed and prioritised.”

Investment

Having assessed and identified the issues regarding the play sites and equipment, BCP Council realised that finding the resources – and being able to prioritise them – to improve things would be demanding. And that’s where Plan for Play comes in.

“Funding the required level of investment will be a challenge,” the council said. “However, this will be clearer and easier with a defined strategy in place, helping to prioritise any available funding. This is supported by the valued work of community and stakeholder groups who are of increasing importance in championing, resourcing and sustaining local play needs.”

Around 120 play spaces will benefit from Phase 1 repair funding – with major refurbishments starting from Autumn 2025

The Council’s own Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) (developer contributions for the delivery of infrastructure to support housing growth) will be an important funding mechanism, alongside external funding available to charities and community groups.

“Extensive evidence defines where the highest demand for new facilities is across BCP and provides a platform for decision making,” the council said.

“All communities and their stakeholders will advocate for their play spaces to be at the top of this list. The strategy therefore sets out a rationale for delivery in a prioritised manner and process. It identifies the need for defect repairs, refurbishment, replacement, creation of new play spaces and repurposing; while taking in to account the diverse needs of our community.

The Plan for Play aims to secure the future of play areas and wheeled sports provision. To ensure the aims laid out in the strategy remain achievable, they include BCP Council-owned play areas – including rebound walls, natural play, play trails, play sculptures and multi-use games areas (MUGAs), as well as wheeled provisions including skate parks, BMX tracks and Cyclogyms. The Plan for Play does not include other play opportunities, such as splash parks, adult outdoor fitness equipment or facilities managed by organised groups. Equally out of scope are indoor or private spaces, such as school playgrounds that are generally inaccessible to the public.

The detail of the Improvement Plan and work streams to deliver this investment will be developed and published later this year (2025).

Immediate improvements

So, what – and when – will families and residents see as a result of the strategy? According to the council, changes are already taking place and will be noticeable.

“Through 2025 people should start to see local play facilities improve,” the council told PlayNation . “Whether through repairs to existing equipment that are worn or broken, or more substantial redevelopment of whole sites.

“Around 120 play spaces across the area will benefit from Phase 1 repair funding to bring valuable play equipment back into life. This includes a new seesaw in Littledown, a replacement goal in Southbourne, and fixed swing seats in Christchurch. In total, 17 sites have been earmarked for major refurbishment or replacements throughout the first phase of Plan for Play and these will be delivered from Autumn 2025.

“Included in these major projects is a £300,000 replacement skate / BMX park at Baiter and £200,000 for a brand new play space in Muscliff & Strouden. Public consultation is being planned for the sites that require the biggest amount of change. The consultation will be hosted on the BCP engagement website, but will also feature on site and face-to-face consultation with young people, park users and residents.”

People

MILLIE EARL

leader of BCP Council

What are your memories of play as a child?

I was really lucky because I grew up in the Ashley Road area of Poole and I had access to lots of really good quality play spaces nearby. My best friend lived in Uppleby Road so we spent a lot of time in the Uppleby Road play park – it had a really wide slide which was great fun because lots of you could go down on it together.

I used to injure myself all the time from jumping off swings – which I don’t recommend, by the way – but we were pushing boundaries and being competitive.

I think the beauty of having had those experiences is that just talking about it now takes me right back to being a six year old running around and having the time of my life. That’s what we as a Council want to provide to future generations and it’s all about providing high quality play areas that give them that safe space to create their own social network, learn, and, ultimately, just enjoy going to.

Why is Plan for Play a priority for the council?

We’ve all experienced play parks over the years and it is so valuable when we look at children’s development – it is essential for health and wellbeing, it’s important for social skills, and it supports children in being active and not glued to their screens all the time.

The benefits of play are so much more than just in the moment – it’s the freedom we take from learning and growing outside of school, it’s the resilience we build from tripping and scraping our knees, it’s the courage we gain from doing something different, and it’s the joy we have when we look back on those memories in years to come.

It’s so important we provide those same building blocks for development to future generations and provide spaces where children want to play.”

Play isn’t just fun – it’s freedom, resilience, courage and joy that lasts a lifetime

What does Plan for Play mean for you as a council leader?

This has been one of our priorities since we took over the running of the Council in 2023 - we were really concerned about the state and sustainability of play parks across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, and we have been determined to produce a long-term fix.

We also want to ensure our play areas are inclusive and accessible - making sure they’re safe and provide high-quality fun for children.

We started creating the play strategy as one of our first priorities and now, a year later, we’ve published it and passed it through Council. I am really proud because it addresses our concerns and I’m feeling really confident that, by the end of it, we’re going to have really good quality play areas across our three towns which can be enjoyed for generations to come.

How important is it that play spaces benefit the entire community?

I’m excited that the consultation stage of Plan for Play will mean actively engaging with communities and, essentially, co-creating play spaces with them. It is vital that we look at the needs of each community – what they’re calling for – and cater for that. We want to create that sense of community ownership over a play space – it means it’s more likely to be used and cherished and gives people a real connection to a space that they’ve helped to create.

The consultation will also bring out things we don’t necessarily know about as a Council – particularly when it comes to what children want to see – so I’m really excited for families to be able to get stuck in and help create some really good community play spaces.

How is Plan for Play being funded?

More than 80% of Phase 1 funding comes from Strategic CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) and that is money paid to the Council from developers to mitigate the impact of their developments. We can then re-invest that money into infrastructure and priorities that we know will benefit the surrounding community.

The important part is that it’s a large capital pot, not at the cost of the taxpayer, that we can use to provide tangible improvements for our residents.”

What would BCP Council like to see from national government?

I think it’s really important that the Government should want to invest in children and young people. They have talked about a prevention agenda (investing in resources to prevent crime and ASB) but, actually, play is a huge marker in the development of children and young people.

From my point of view, the Government needs to look at a play strategy as part of their prevention agenda. They should be committing money to make sure that every child across the country has access to play otherwise it becomes a postcode lottery about what provision is actually afforded in a community.”