Before I had my daughter in 2019, I never had thought much about the importance of playgrounds. Public playgrounds give our children so many learning opportunities through different types of play. Just watch a child in a playground and you’ll see how it helps their physical development (most obviously), but also how it aids their social, emotional, imaginative and cognitive development. The safe environment gives children the chance to test boundaries and understand how to be more independent. And we can all acknowledge the role playgrounds have in promoting exercise, improving our children’s health and wellbeing, and instilling active lifestyles that we hope will persist into adulthood.
My daughter and I visit the Salts playground as much as we can. When she was small, she could climb on the frames and use the swings. Years on, I notice that our playground is tired, broken and doesn’t work for children with special needs.
We have three playgrounds in Rye that are managed by Rother District Council: Salts Field, Masons Field (Tilling Green) and Kings Avenue. I visited them all in the last few weeks.
Kings Avenue is very sweet but it lacks equipment for older children. Masons Field has a few pieces of newer play equipment but it still has metal swing frames covered in moss, old concrete jumping steps which don’t feel very child-friendly, and not a single piece of accessible equipment. The Salts playground is particularly shabby. The metal climbing and swing frames have been painted over multiple times, with rust showing underneath, and there is broken play equipment that hasn’t been fixed or replaced for months. It is frequently inaccessible to pushchairs and wheelchairs because of flooding. Admittedly, it is built on a flood plain, but you would think that with modern technology and design we could look at ramps or some kind of drainage so that pushchairs and wheelchairs can get access all times of the year.
The tourists look down across the Salts, to beautiful views of the river and beyond, but in front of it all is our old playground. The town should be embarrassed by the garish, shabby orange and red structures you can see from the lookout on the high street.
If we care about our children’s healthy development, we deserve better working playgrounds for children of all ages in Rye. We also need to look at accessibility for wheelchairs and play equipment for special needs children.
I have reported my concerns to Rebecca Owen, parks development officer for Rother District Council but received a rather dismissive reply: “This is aesthetic rather than relating to play value and as the equipment is routinely inspected, structurally intact and in good working order, we don’t believe its replacement is justified at this time.”
Don’t the children of Rye deserve a bright aesthetically pleasing playground and safe environment to enjoy? Shouldn’t Rye be proud of an amazing, inclusive, quality playground that can be used by visitors and locals all year round?
If you feel the same, please sign my petition to get Rother District Council to do a full review of the playgrounds in Rye.
www.change.org/p/improve-rye-s-playgrounds
Image Credits: Jess Angel .
Hopefully if Rye Town Council take over the Salts areas at the end of the year from Rother, they can get grants to upgrade the play area,and also turn the Old Town Salts back to its original use, and maybe get grants to turn this now overgrown wilderness into a park, for all too enjoy,just like Bexhill residents have with their Parks.
Hi, Jess. Was it you who also raised this at the Town Meeting? Like the pool, it’s an issue that really impact the health and well being of our kids. My children both spent lots of time on The Salts apparatus when we lived nearby, and I recall it often exhibited issues. Some pieces of equipment were frequently damaged by young adults, and there were issues with dogs etc. The huge merry-go-round always seemed pretty lethal to me too, but I think part of that’s now been removed. But I agree, all this stuff needs regular attention. It may be that facilities could be eligible for Rother’s Community Infrastructure grants, by the way. As for the aesthetics, I suspect that ‘painting season’ hasn’t quite arrived yet, but I hope it, along with many other aspects of the town, will be getting a refresh soon. The Town Stewards are already doing the verges. Definitely worth drawing attention to this.
Your passion and commitment were clear at the town meeting Jess, I was sitting a row behind you and remember your contribution well. From your pics it certainly looks like more than aesthetics alone especially where little hands are involved. This is where local coordination, dialogue and representation are vital, working alongside parents who know first hand what the issues are in ways no council officer, no matter how committed can do. It would be good to track progress on this and make sure our parks are as safe and fun as we can make them.
When I was involved with play areas at Etchingham and Ticehurst the parish council together with District helped with monies either via PC or grant.
How equipment looks reflects on the neighbourhood, but more important an annual inspection of the area, including equipment should take place so as to safeguard against liability. So, when was the last inspection made, and comments recorded, clearly, if moss or rust is present on the equipment it needs to be dealt with.
Jess Angel contacted me about this in late March and I made enquiries of the officer named in the article. On 5 April I emailed Jess with the officer’s response the gist of which was this –
“Routine inspections of the equipment are carried out under the grounds maintenance contract three times a week and I believe it would last have been inspected yesterday. In addition, our insurers inspect the equipment annually.
We accept that some of the equipment would benefit aesthetically from being repainted and we are currently obtaining quotes for this. In the meantime, our contractor has carried out a clean of the surfacing and the equipment. Jess also asked about one of the items of equipment at The Salts which has been out of operation for some time. The parts for that item are on order and we also have a ‘springie’ on order to replace one that had to be removed. We are hoping to make some additions, albeit modest, to Masons Field and The Salts during this new financial year … [redacted as may contain personal information]
Devolvement discussions are on-going with Rye Town Council, but there is no agreed date for them to be concluded. “
I am surprised and a little disappointed that Jess doesn’t refer to this later reply. Perhaps it went into her spam folder? I would welcome an explanation.