Payhembury play park pepped up

A much-anticipated improvement to Payhembury’s play area has taken a step closer to completion now that local children have chosen their favourite design.

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 developments in the area.

Children had a choice of four designs and voted for their favourite, with the winning option including a climbing wall, climbing net and a spinning item. The final voting took place in a special assembly with EDDC at Payhembury Primary School.

Winning design

Of the 66 children who voted, 38% chose the winning design by Hags SMP. The result has been ratified by Payhembury Parish Council and will be rubber-stamped by EDDCso that work can go ahead ordering and installing the playground.

Peter Bentley from Payhembury Playing Field Committee, who has led on the project, said: “I’m delighted for the children that we are now going to 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: “The whole process has been a wonderful learning experience for the children. The Parish Council have included the children in every stage and to finally see and play on the equipment will have such a positive impact on the children. They will all know that they have played a part in supporting the village and feel proud of what they have helped to achieve”.

Community engagement in action

Councillor Iain Chubb, EDDC Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “I’m very pleased to see that new equipment is to be provided. Especially gratifying is the way EDDC and the people in the parish have gone about selecting the equipment with a truly participatory approach engaging the children and residents in the decision”.

The four designs that the children chose from were provided by companies who followed the children’s design brief for the area. They came up with this earlier in the 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.

This graphic shows the selection of new play equipment chosen by Payhembury children.