Review promised at 'inaccessible' play area

Colchester City Council was criticised for using bark on the surface of the playground

A council has promised to try making a newly-built playground more accessible after criticism from a local parent.

Colchester City Council claimed the facility at High Woods Country Park offered an "exciting and inclusive play experience" when it opened on 7 December.

The woodland play area cost £130,000 to install.

However, David Grocott told a council meeting the playground was "anything but" inclusive.

"The council has succeeded in spending £130,000 of public money on a facility that makes disabled people cry," said Mr Grocott, from Little Bentley, whose son has quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

"To claim this is an accessible park just rubs salt in the wounds."

The city council formally opened the park on 7 December, saying it offered an "exciting and inclusive play experience"

Mr Grocott, speaking at the cabinet meeting at Town Hall on Tuesday, said a ramp with a wooden lip on it, and the bark on the floor, meant wheelchair use for his son was too difficult.

He further described it as an "inaccessible monstrosity".

In response, Liberal Democrat council leader David King said the authority would see "what learning and adjustments we can make" and admitted the playground was "below the standards we would, today, expect".

The playground was opened at a cost of £130,000

In a later statement on Friday, Mr King added: "We are looking at the flooring options available for the play space to see if more can be done, whilst also balancing this with the cost to the council given the unprecedented budget pressures we are facing."

His colleague Martin Goss, portfolio holder for neighbourhoods and waste, said: "Our team did work to make the space as accessible as possible with the limitations of the woodland setting, considering protected trees [and] roots, within the budget they had."

Mr Grocott agreed to meet council officials at the park in Colchester so he could be consulted on potential amendments.

David Grocott told the council meeting the park was an "antiquated monstrosity"