Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee supports the progress made by Flintshire in play provision and recommends that the Council considers supporting free play with recycled materials such as wood and cardboard and the costs of disposing of such items;

(b)       That greater detail of movements be provided in the Play Sufficiency statistics; and

(c)        That Marianne Manello of Play Wales and the Flintshire officers who had contributed to the item be thanked for their attendance and input.

The Chief Officer (Organisational Change 1) presented the report to enable comment and discussion to take place prior to providing training for Members and staff in early 2018 to support the future development of play in Flintshire.  He provided background information and advised that overall the Council had maintained a strong commitment to play despite the recent years of austerity.  He introduced Janet  Roberts, Play Development Officer, and Marianne Mannello, Assistant Director Play Wales, and invited them to give a presentation on Play Sufficiency in Flintshire.  The main points of the presentation were as follows:

·         the right to play

·         Welsh Government’s Play Sufficiency Duty

·         what stops you from playing out

·         celebrating success

·         areas of concern

·         opportunities

·         priorities going forward 

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director Play Wales and the Play Development Officer for their presentation. 

Councillor Ian Dunbar commented on the importance of play schemes particularly during the Summer holiday period as not all families were able to take children away on holiday.  He referred to the match funding programme and spoke of the difficulty experienced by Town and Community Councils who had a number of play schemes and play areas to fund and maintain.  Councillor Dunbar also commented that some play areas were becoming dilapidated due to a lack of funding to improve and renew equipment and some of the ‘older’ play areas did not have adequate lighting.   Councillor Dunbar asked if funding could be made available through Section 106 agreements with local developers.

The Chief Officer (Organisational Change 1) advised that capital funding had been allocated last year to address all ‘red’ rated play areas to bring up to the required standard.  He also explained that work was ongoing with Planning to look at revised guidance around planning policies and funding from developers for play areas.

Councillor Paul Shotton emphasised the need to promote outside play to young people and spoke of the long term health and wellbeing benefits which were to be gained.  The Assistant Director Play Wales urged Town and Community Councils to support the development of play in the local community and to advocate ways for  play development which were “outside the box” in terms of play provision.  She concurred with the views expressed by Councillor Shotton and said that Play Wales would be working with colleagues across Wales to raise awareness of the importance of play.  Councillor Shotton drew attention  to the lottery  funding which was available through the ‘Our Backyard’ scheme and explained that Connah’s Quay Town Council had been successful in its bid for funding.

In response to a question from Councillor Brian Lloyd regarding the Parkour or Free Running, the Assistant Director of Play Wales commented that this was a specialist form of provision and she was not aware of a scheme in North Wales.

Councillor David Wisinger thanked officers for the report and acknowledged the progress which had been made in play provision, however, he expressed concern that a number of play areas were not “up to standard”.  The Chief Officer acknowledged the concerns and reiterated that capital funding had been allocated in a 3 year programme to address those play areas which had a ‘red’ status.  He explained that a significant number of play areas had been developed this year and gave an assurance that a mechanism was in place to deal with play provision. 

Councillor Hilary McGuill suggested that more proactive links should be developed with schools to utilise the facilities which were already available and cited the use of school playgrounds and fields during out of school hours as an example.  Councillor McGuill also suggested that the Authority and Town and Community Councils needed to be more creative around play provision  and reiterated the need to “think outside the box” in terms of how play was delivered.  She commented on the value of “free play” with recycled materials such as wood and cardboard and said that the Council could assist with the cost of disposing such items.

The Assistant Director Play Wales advised that a toolkit had been developed to assist schools and was available on the Play Wales website.  Councillor Ian Roberts commented on the use of school grounds when a school was closed and referred to the issues of insurance liability and the management of risk which needed careful consideration beforehand. 

In response to a query from Councillor Tudor Jones concerning the information provided in the assessment of play opportunities in Flintshire it was agreed that greater detail of movements needed to be provided in the Play Sufficiency statistics

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director of Play Wales and the Authority’s officers for their attendance and input.

RESOLVED:

 (a)      That the Committee supports the progress made by Flintshire in play provision and recommends that the Council considers supporting free play with recycled materials such as wood and cardboard and the costs of disposing of such items;

(b)       That greater detail of movements be provided in the Play Sufficiency statistics; and

(c)        That Marianne Manello of Play Wales and the Flintshire officers who had contributed to the item be thanked for their attendance and input.