Anneke Hodnett says parents are frustrated over the poor state of Newham’s playgrounds

A set of swings in disrepair — Stock Photo by jules a. on Unsplash

Newham Council’s Children and Young People Plan 2022-2027 states “our ambition is for Newham to be the best place for children and young people to grow up, to play…….We will listen to and co-design services with children, young people, parents and families to meet your needs”.

From my perspective as a mother to two young children in East Ham, the state of our playgrounds and water parks means Newham is far from the best place to be a child in summer 2023. In early autumn 2022 several items of play equipment were removed from the playground in Central Park. These included the only non-baby swings, the zip line, and the balance beam. Fast forward to August 2023 and none of these items have been replaced. In the meantime, more pieces of play equipment have fallen into disrepair, causing several injuries to local children.

In spring 2023, residents emailed local councillors about the paddling pool in Brampton Park and whether this would be opened this summer. We were told that the Council were aiming to reopen it for the school holidays. The week before the holidays started, Playground crisis: we must do better it was communicated that the Council “haven’t been able to achieve satisfactory microbiology reports to enable the paddling pool to be used”. In the meantime, a major piece of play equipment was removed from Brampton playground. It has not been replaced.

These examples are replicated in so many of the parks across Newham. Local parents are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of ambition, investment and maintenance towards play and water spaces for our children. That this is not a priority for the Council was highlighted to me by the fact that having emailed my three local Labour councillors about these issues three weeks ago, I am yet to receive a reply from any of them.

Newham is one of the poorest boroughs in London, with many children living without access to garden space. This makes it even more crucial that the area’s existing facilities are maintained. Currently there seems to be a pattern of playgrounds falling into disrepair, items being removed, and nothing being replaced.

When it comes to water play, there are 11 parks listed on the Council website as having play spaces including water. This is deeply misleading as the majority of the pools are not filled and the splash pads not turned on. Playgrounds serve as community spaces where children of all backgrounds can gather and play together. With the lack of investment and maintenance in Newham playgrounds, inequality is growing between those with access to their own garden space and those without access who stay indoors.

It is ironic that the two best maintained playgrounds in Newham, West Ham Park and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, are not run by the Council. However, for those in the south of the Borough, travel to these parks can be difficult, especially this summer with the works on Barking Road meaning long waits on standstill buses with hot children.

Many families including my own have had our children over the last few years against the background of Covid 19. This is a cohort of children who as lockdown babies had to do without so many of the play and social opportunities which form a vital part of early childhood. Now having emerged from the pandemic, there is a wealth of evidence about the effects of lockdown of children’s development.

Play and water parks offer vital spaces for children to catch up on these experiences. As local residents we all need to put pressure on our local representatives to stop the unacceptable decline of childhood experience in Newham. We demand better.

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