£2m for new playgrounds to help get kids active

Deputy Mayor Linda cuts ribbon at £160k play mecca (Credit: EBC)

A record sum of almost £2million is to be spent by Erewash council on creating new playgrounds to get children more active.

The borough’s leader Cllr James Dawson said the authority’s biggest ever investment in play areas will see the construction of 12 exciting fun zones where tired existing playgrounds have been identified as needing entirely new equipment.

A 13th – in Sawley – will get its safety surfacing replaced along with new fencing. Cllr Dawson declared: “Happy and healthy children are most likely to grow into happy and healthy adults.

“Playgrounds provide wonderful opportunities for children to get healthy exercise by taking part in active play together, helping them to develop physically and mentally in a safe environment.

“By investing in our playgrounds, children will be encouraged to put down their phones and other digital distractions to play outdoors, benefiting from exercising and socialising in the borough’s wonderful green spaces”.

The first playgrounds to get total overhauls starting in the New Year will be ones at Long Eaton’s Harrington open space, Ilkeston’s Victoria Park and at Windsor Crescent in Kirk Hallam, where £400,000 has been earmarked for a showcase adventure zone – the design of which locals will be consulted about.

The others play areas that have been earmarked for complete revamps will also get new equipment aimed primarily at four to 12-year-olds – with some of the sites also catering for even younger children. Work on them is due to start in spring and be complete by the end of next year. The sites are:
Long Eaton – Grange Park, Norfolk Road and Cobden Street.

• Ilkeston – Shaw Street East and Chaucer Park.
• Sandiacre – St Giles Park.
• Borrowash – Brook Road and Deans Drive.
• Sawley – Sawley New Park, which like the others will get all-new equipment. The separate play area at Sawley Park is the one that will be resurfaced with new fencing.

The latest boost to children and families across the borough is thanks to the council’s new Erewash Investment Fund, which is ploughing £6.5million into enhancing the local area in all kinds of ways.

It comes after investment was secured via the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund for a hat-trick of OTHER thrilling new play areas in the borough. The first opened in 2024 at West Park. Next came a £160,000 jungle-themed fun zone in Ilkeston at Wash Meadows – an area that townsfolk affectionately refer to as “Johnny’s” park. Deputy Mayor Cllr Linda Burns officially opened it in July.

The third – which is costing £75,000 – is poised to begin construction in mid-August at Erewash Square in Ilkeston’s Larklands.