New play area at Hunter Avenue officially opened

Hundreds of school children, and a few big kids too, attended the opening ceremony at Hunter Avenue play area on Friday 29 April.

The Mayor of Ashford, Councillor Callum Knowles, performed the ribbon cutting ceremony alongside Ashford Borough Council and Kent County Councils members. There was free ice cream for those attending, and even the weather played nicely too.

Hunter Avenue play area is situated on Hunter Avenue, South Willesborough, Ashford, and has recently been revamped following a £200,000 investment.

It now includes a fenced area for younger children to play in, a Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) compliant roundabout and high backed swing chair. The park features a 25m Long zip wire, a larger junior multiplay unit, double width mound slide, swinging area and mini football goals for an informal kick about.

The new seating and picnic tables have been installed to provide communal space, accessible for all, with a brand new outdoor gym area to improve free access to health and wellbeing activities for the local community.

Working with Wicksteed playgrounds, accessibility and inclusive play were very important aspects, with play equipment for all abilities and age groups.

Having used consultations with residents from February 2020 we have received great feedback from local residents who have embraced the substantial improvements since the soft opening earlier this month.

The funding for the play areas came from a combination of government covid funding from Kent County Council (£134,000) and Housing revenue funding (£46,000).

This recent revamp is part of the Councils commitment to providing local communities with high quality and accessible play and outdoor gym facilities. Consultations have just taken place for a further £1.1m investment in three play areas in the borough - Central Park, Park Farm, Bybrook; Spearpoint Recreation Ground, Kennington and Rylands Park, Bybrook.

More information can be found on our website.