The work is over – let playtime begin!

Much anticipated improvements to Payhembury’s play area are now complete, after improvements chosen by local children were put in place.

Payhembury Playing Field Committee and East Devon District Council have been working closely together with Payhembury Primary School to make £6,700 worth of improvements. This money has been contributed by developers through Section 106 funding for play. This type of contribution was a condition of planning approval for a number of housing developments in the area.

Children had a choice of four designs and voted for their favourite in a special assembly at Payhembury Primary School. Of the 66 children who voted, 38% chose the winning design by HAGS SMP, which includes a climbing wall, climbing net and a spinning item.

Peter Bentley from Payhembury Playing Field Committee, who has led on the project, said: “I’m delighted for the children that we now have a more exciting play area. We have achieved this with the excellent co-operation of Mrs Hammett and the school, with the pupils being really keen to get involved and help with the project. They have been a real credit to the village”.

Penny Hammett, Headteacher at Payhembury Primary School, said: “I am so delighted to see the new equipment in place. The whole village has contributed to improving the facilities for the children and they are very excited about spending time on it. The children thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the process and I know it has given them a sense of responsibility knowing that they have chosen it and now want to look after it”.

Councillor Iain Chubb, EDDC Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “I’m keen to help promote a healthy lifestyle through outdoor activities. The new equipment has brightened up the play area and given the children a greater choice of exciting activities. Especially gratifying is the way EDDC and the people in the parish went about selecting the equipment with a truly participatory approach enabling local children to make the decision”.

The four designs that the youngsters chose from were provided by companies who followed the children’s design brief for the area. They came up with this early last year, when EDDC visited Payhembury Primary School and Payhembury Playing Field Committee visited the Youth Club to find out what type of activities children wanted in the play area.