Cash agreed to replace ‘dangerous’ ground covering at Newport playground

The blue plastic floor covering, which surrounds the rides and climbing frames at Victoria Park, off Water Lane, sticks up at the edges.

Mayor Peter Scott said he had raised the tripping hazard with Telford & Wrekin Council officers who initially downplayed it because children “could only trip inwards”.

But the borough council, which owns the site, later proposed a replacement worth more than £20,000 and offered to contribute approximately half. The two ward councillors added £1,000 each from their “Pride in Our Community” funds and Newport Town Council voted unanimously to grant the rest.

Councillor Scott told his colleagues: “I think the parents of Newport will thank us for that.”

They were discussing a request from Telford and Wrekin Council for financial assistance to replace the surfacing which, the meeting agenda said, “is provided to protect children from falls and to lessen the potential chances of closure of the facility”.

Councillor Scott said: “The first time I raised this I was told by the officer ‘They can only trip inwards’.

Permanent

“Well, I didn’t think that was good enough.

“We’re being asked to either look at a temporary repair, which may come back to haunt us, or a permanent replacement.”

Councillor Alan Lloyd said: “Patching up would just mean we’re going to revisit it in 12 months, say.

“As a child, I played there. We want people to continue. I don’t think I would sit comfortably if someone was hurt.

Councillor Thomas Janke, who also represents Newport South and East on Telford & Wrekin Council, said he had been assured by a borough officer that the new covering would last “15 to 20 years”, “so, from an economic point of view, it makes sense”.

He and fellow borough councillor Eric Carter pledged £1,000 each from their Pride in Our Community funds.

Deputy mayor Lyn Fowler said: “Apart from the health and safety point of view, it’s an eyesore, the way it sticks up all over the place.”