Council under fire over 'depressing' playgrounds

City leaders say there is money earmarked for repairs but opposition figures say progress is slow

Playgrounds are being left to fall apart despite a council sitting on millions of pounds of funds from developers, opposition figures have claimed.

Liverpool City Council has been criticised over the state of play areas including the one in Sefton Park, which has broken roundabouts and a see-saw missing a seat.

Liberal Democrat councillors said the authority should use Section 106 money paid by developers towards community projects when they are given planning permission.

The council said it would spend the money but there were restrictions on how it could be used.

Phoebe and her mother Jemma have been using the park since Phoebe was a baby

Children who use Sefton Park playground have to contend with broken equipment and disintegrated surfaces.

Phoebe, 10, said she been using the park since she was a baby.

She said: "I went to London recently and went to a playground there and it was lovely.

"I know we are a smaller city but I don’t see why we can’t have that here."

Her mum Jemma said: "You expect stuff to fail after a while, but having the resources in place to deal with the maintenance, that seems obvious and achievable."

The council said there were 87 play sites across Liverpool, 46 of them in South Liverpool.

A spokesman said the authority was spending just under £1 million on refurbishing 11 sites, with work starting in Spring 2025.

Denise Pendleton, who lives near Sefton Park, said she was so fed up with the state of the playground that she planned to launch a fundraiser.

She said it was "not about council-bashing", adding: "we don’t even spend 10 minutes here because it’s so bad.

"It’s depressing."

Parents call some parks depressing

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Makinson said the lack of investment in the playground in Calderstones park since it opened in 1999 meant "the equipment is now older than some of the parents whose children are coming to play on it".

He added that it had once taken the council three years to agree how to spend £95,000 that was paid by a developer for new play equipment, and three years later still, it had not been spent.

"Every time we ask questions, we are told, "We are moving closer to procurement'," Makinson said.

The council said work would start on Calderstones playground next year.

It said the refurbishment of the 11 play areas was being funded by Section 106 money, and added that there were strict conditions around how it could be used.

A spokesman added that 20 playgrounds were created or upgraded in recent years.

They added the council "anticipated an additional £3 million would be needed to refurbish the remaining 32 sites".