The first of two controversial climbing frames were triumphantly opened by the council at a ribbon cutting ceremony this week.

Children whooped with joy as they enjoyed their first adventures on the new piece of equipment, clambering up the sides of the towering apparatus and sliding down the shiny new slides with glee.

However their jollity contrasted starkly with the sombre mood of some of parents in attendance, many of whom have opposed and remonstrated against the decision to remove the two supervised adventure playgrounds at Harebreaks and Harwoods at every turn.

While the council’s need to make savings is a pressing and very real conundrum, the feeling among many is that the decision to remove two inclusive and very well used adventure playgrounds was rushed through, made without proper consultation, and made regardless of the opposition shown.

Through forcing redundancy on the play workers at Harebreaks and Harwoods, the council intends to save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in wages. Very welcomed savings indeed.  

However, when considering the £1.4m that has been spent to demolish the existing facilities and replace them with these two new wooden structures, it becomes apparent that it will be years before the council sees any return on its investment.

Whether this turns out to be a well calculated move or not remains to be seen. Only time will tell.