Health and safety hazard at Midsomer Norton play area and skatepark

By Desert Divas Ltd | Monday, May 10, 2010, 16:03

Work is coming along quite well at the new skatepark and play area outside the Wansdyke leisure centre in Midsomer Norton. However, I'm a bit worried about the health and safety aspect as visitors may need to bring a pair of tweezers along to remove any splinters from the rustic railings around the area.

The rustic railings around the new play area
The fencing along the new play area
The sandy play area

The area has included a wonderful soft surface of sand to protect any “whoopsies” (and needless to say...the neighbourhood cats will love the big new litterbox!) but despite the new climbing frames and adventure park play area, the railings around the region are a bit hazardous. The railings are split wood logs which are rough and have an abundance of splinters . Are these rustic railings temporarily installed to space the posts and to fence off the area or are they permanent? If so, are there plans to smooth out the surface, or are we to hope that time weather and little hands will help to smoothe out the surface?

Perhaps we need a warning sign about touching the fence. What do you think about the new play area?

See the playarea gallery for more photos

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Comments

Blimey, quick smart from B&NES there... Is CarlaGale actually Lois Lane in disguise? Good job all round - the fence issue was a point worth making, and quick council response good to see. I tend to agree with Dokioki here - I applaud the investment and the park already looks great, but you have to wonder about the sand!

By coopslad at 21:43 on 13/05/10
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This fence is not yet in its finished state. The final version will be inspected and approved by the Council before the public have access. In the interim period the Council has asked the contractor to cordon off any exposed section of this fence.

By council_spoke at 13:38 on 12/05/10
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That's a good point, my first reaction to the fencing was, "what is the point?", it won't keep anything out (dogs looking for a toilet) or, more importantly, anything in (toddlers with no road sense... it is right next to a road after all) The park is a really nice space and I hope if this isn't the final fencing solution that whatever the final fence looks like retains the natural look but with a bit of functionality (i.e no big metal fences)

Actually my bigger concern with the park is the aforementioned sand, apart from the mess in all the poor mum's and dad's cars and homes that will no doubt be carted home in shoes,clothing and bags. As a parent of toddlers I'm far more concerned with the sand hiding a multitude of sins - animal mess / broken glass / syringes etc.. I'm sure someone thought about this at the planning stages ( and maybe there is something special about the sand that I'm missing) but I thought play areas had moved away from using sand for this reason.

Anyway, concerns aside, the park looks great and will be a welcome addition to the town.

By dokioki at 09:43 on 11/05/10
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