Play Area Latest

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Following our brilliant recent fundraising campaign and successful meetings with Southampton City Council, we are delighted that work will commence shortly to improve the Play Area at Portswood Rec. 

The exciting new play equipment is being installed around the existing  familiar favourites like the ship, climbing tower, trampoline and basket swing, all of which will be remaining so there will be lots of choice and play opportunities for children of all ages. We are also hoping that during the work, some repairs can take place to the existing roundabout making it easier for children to turn.

Work started on 7th April and will take around 4 weeks to complete. To keep everyone safe, the play area will be closed whilst the work is taking place. The contractors will also need to deliver their materials from the entrance at Upper Grosvenor Road and move them across the grass to the play area. They will be using a temporary roadway for their vehicles to minimise damage to the grassed area, so this part of the Rec will also need to be fenced off and closed to public use whilst the work takes place. All other areas including the Brickfield and Kitchener Roads will be fully accessible as usual.

We recognise that there have been some negative comments on SCC social media about the closure taking place during the school holidays and appreciate it is a shame. The Council usually try to avoid this, but to reduce the risk of accident involving school children and traffic mixing with the construction workers and vehicles by the Upper Grosvenor Road entrances to the school and Rec, it will be safer to take advantage of the two-week spring break and start the work during the holiday period. This should minimise disruption and risk of harm for everyone involved. 

We hope you understand and apologise for any inconvenience caused. The reward will be a fantastic new play space installed in time for the summer months and the longer school holiday.

We appreciate Southampton City Council’s investment and collaboration on this project, the extent of which would not have been possible without amazing fundraising support from our local community. We are grateful to West Solent Solar for their grant, Portswood School who organised a non-school uniform day and cake sale, everyone who came along bought raffle tickets and supported our Quiz Night last year or donated to our Just Giving page. 

Thank you to each and every one of you for your support. We hope you are pleased with the final design which encompasses the most requested play features from the survey the Friends group undertook in 2023 when the old equipment was removed. 

Once the work has been completed, there will be a launch event, with details published nearer the time.