Children from Chudleigh Primary School have acted as ‘play experts’ to help develop a new spiral play feature on the Forestry Commission estate at Haldon Forest Park.
The forest park was selected as one of the sites for Teignbridge District Council’s environmental play project funded by The Big Lottery. The aim of the project was for children to be involved in the development of an environmental play feature.
Cameron Scott, a local designer who advocates the use of wood, was approached to develop an initial design proposal for a feature on the existing Playtrail. The team at Haldon Forest Park then teamed up with site partners at The Centre for Contemporary Art & The Natural World (CCANW) to develop a consultation activity with children from Chudleigh Primary School’s student council.
Twenty children aged between five and 10 years took part in the consultation and gave their views on Cameron’s initial proposal and suggestions about how it could be made better.
The resulting Spiral play feature is now available for all children to enjoy on the play trail at the park. It was built by local firm Woodmanship, which is run by Mike Gardner, using timber from Haldon Forest. Some further work was then done on the spiral by volunteers at the Environment Agency.
Cllr Anne Fry, Teignbridge District Council’s Executive Spokesperson for Recreational Services said:
“We always try to provide top quality play activities for young people, and were delighted to be able to fund the development of this exciting new play structure at Haldon Forest Park.
“An important part of the project was giving young people the opportunity to have their say in the development of the structures, and the spiral is a wonderful example of what can be achieved through this kind of imaginative consultation process. We look forward to many children enjoying playing on the structure in the future.”
NOTES TO EDITOR
1. There is something for everyone at Haldon Forest Park. It is 3.500 acres of woodland, owned by the Forestry Commission, just fifteen minutes from Exeter. It is open every day and there are a range of walks and all ability trails, cycling trails as well as a wide range of events. Rangers are on hand daily to give advice and ensure people get the most out of their visit. The Ridge Café is also on site serving a range of local, organic and fairtrade food and drink. In addition Forest Cycle Hire is based at Haldon, hiring out mountain bikes to visitors and facilitating groups of cyclists in the forest. Haldon Forest Park also hosts Go Ape, an award-winning high wire forest adventure course of rope bridges, tarzan swings and zip slides in the tree tops. The site is also home to the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, an innovative organisation, which uses the arts to explore new understandings of our place within nature. They hold regular exhibitions and run educational events.
2. The Forestry Commission is the government department responsible in England for protecting, expanding and promoting the sustainable management of woods and forests and increasing their value to society and the environment. Forestry makes a real contribution to sustainable development, providing social and environmental benefits arising from planting and managing attractive, as well as productive, woodlands. Further information can be found at www.forestry.gov.uk/england
3. For further information please contact:
Kirstie Smith, Communications Manager, Forestry Commission on 01392 834249
Tim Borrett, Media and Communications Officer, Teignbridge Council on 01626 215164 or Tim.Borrett@teignbridge.gov.uk