Locals slam 'death trap' of playground

CLAIMS THAT COUNCIL DO NOT CARE 'ONE BIT' ABOUT SITE

- By DANIEL HODGSON

Maureen Plunkett

THE play area of a Middlesbrough park has been labelled a “complete death trap” by an angry resident.

Local Simon Templar has taken issue with the state of Stewart Park’s play area, saying that Middlesbrough Council does not care about it “one bit”, compared to other councils in the local area who he says are doing their parks up.

The 47-year-old spoke of cones at Stewart Park and tape blocking off play equipment.

On a visit to the park by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), it was clear the tape would not provide much of a deterrent to young children who would be shorter than the cordons surrounding numerous pieces of equipment.

While the majority of the play area was in use, the few pieces of equipment that were taped off were a real blight on the wider park.

Ward councillors have said they have been pushing for items to be fixed, but are repeatedly advised that the council are waiting for parts.

Middlesbrough Council said they are aware of the damage and the equipment will be repaired as soon as possible, with a wider playground improvement scheme in the coming months.

Mr Templar invited the LDRS to visit the park and see the state of it “because one day you'll be back again taking photos of a child that got injured in the park”.

He added: “They’ve removed the trampolines, put cones around it and filled it with those water bollards, that you get to block off streets - they just threw them in there.

“This is the council that takes hundreds of thousands of pounds off of the people of the area, and they'd rather spend their money on more community wardens, rather than fixing our parks.