Play equipment chosen by children has been installed in a Southwell park.
Enjoying a new swing at the park are, left to right, Ben Napier, 9, Cleo Maksoud, 10, Heather Collins, 9, and Adam Gell, 9. (100112MW4-13)
Pupils at Lowe’s Wong Junior School and the Minster School were asked by the town council to choose new equipment for the play area at War Memorial Recreation Ground.
The council had £30,000 to spend, provided by the developers of the Humberstone Road estate as part of a planning condition requiring them to contribute towards recreation facilities.
Pupils chose to spend the money on four new pieces of equipment including a zip wire.
The chairman of the council’s finance and policy committee, Mr Peter Harris, said the youngsters had done an excellent job.
He said: “They have made fantastic choices, which are very popular and have been very well used over the Christmas holidays, so much so that we have had to fence off areas of grass that were getting damaged by people walking over them to get to the equipment.
“We thought it was important that, rather than old fuddy duddies like us at the town council making the decision, for the youngsters to think about it and make recommendations themselves.”
Mr Harris said it was the first time they had given youngsters a budget and asked them to recommend equipment.
He said: “We gave them the budget told them the sort of equipment they could get and asked them for their recommendations.
“£30,000 could have bought one big piece of equipment or several smaller pieces, which is what they went for.
“The youngsters were really involved in the process and they handled the decision very sensibly.”
Mr Harris said the council was due to install fencing around the play area and a shelter for young people but would now also consider putting down matting to prevent damage to the grass around the new equipment.
He said: “We are going to get some matting that will allow the grass to grow through it but will provide a protective layer over the grass to prevent it becoming damaged.”
