Unusable play equipment at Murrills Park to be removed

East Suffolk Council has said it will remove the unusable play equipment in Murrills Park in Warren Heath in August before replacing it with newer equipment as soon as possible.

This comes after a resident in the area, Julie Stout, complained about the fact that children can't play on the equipment due to the fences being up around a number of the apparatus.

A piece of play equipment cordoned off (Image: Julie Stout)

An East Suffolk Council spokesperson said: "As part of a five-year Play Area Strategy launched in 2022, East Suffolk Council undertook a review into the quality and value of all 63 sites it owns and maintains.

"Since then, we have commenced a programme of play area replacements and upgrades to sites which had been underused due to their limited amount and range of equipment, or sites where equipment has reached the point of beyond reasonable repair, and there is a lack of ancillary features such as signage or seating.

"Among the previously upgraded sites was Murrills Park play area, where some of the equipment was, at the time, still deemed to be in good working order and suitable to be retained.

Climbing frame and slide fenced off (Image: Julie Stout) Julie Stout, pictured with husband Neil, raised issues with the play equipment (Image: Julie Stout)

"Simultaneously to our Play Area Strategy, we run an ongoing maintenance programme to manage the cleanliness and safety of all play areas across East Suffolk.

"In some cases, the replacement of broken equipment has taken more time than intended and, in the case of Murrills Park play area, has resulted in a temporary reduction to the range of available equipment.

"We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and will be working to remove the currently unusable equipment next month, before organising for replacement items to be installed at the earliest possible opportunity."

The zip wire is also reaching the end of its life (Image: Julie Stout) Councillor Mark Packard (Image: East Suffolk Council)

Mark Packard, East Suffolk councillor for Purdis Farm and Martlesham, confirmed that he and cabinet member councillor Sarah Whitelock were looking into the park and getting the play area fixed "as soon as possible".

He said: "It's all about contractors now and they're all busy because of the summer holidays but we are on the case and hope to have things sorted as soon as possible."