New £103,000 play area opens in Bucklesham, Suffolk

The play area has officially opened <i>(Image: East Suffolk Council)</i>
The play area has officially opened (Image: East Suffolk Council)
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A new £103,000 play area has opened in a Suffolk village.

The new facility, located on Levington Lane in Bucklesham, officially opened on Saturday, May 4.

Bucklesham play area (Image: East Suffolk Council)

It offers an upgraded space for children with modern equipment and inclusive features, which include large slides for older children, a cone spinner for climbing, a log rope swing, seesaw and new trim trail area.

There is also an accessible area for sensory and imaginative play along with sensory panels for children of all abilities, as well as a shaded seating area for parents and carers.

This follows a year of community effort and fundraising.

Clive Lenton, chairman of Bucklesham Parish Council, said: "I am hugely proud of what we have achieved as a community in such a short space of time.

"We decided in May 2025 that we really needed to update the old equipment, and in the last 12 months we have managed to consult with residents, work with designers, fundraise, apply for and successfully obtain a Local CIL Play Fund grant, and complete the project so that it is ready for opening.

"We are hugely grateful for the CIL funding because as a small village, we would never have managed to fundraise the amount of money needed to fund a project like this."

The play area is now open (Image: East Suffolk Council)

Lenton also thanked those who helped secure funding and made the project possible.

He said: "Thank you to Cllr Packard, Cllr Ninnmey and Cllr Reeves for supporting us, and we know the whole village is thrilled with what it has provided for the village children.

"Now we have an amazing, safe space for village children to have fun, socialise and learn through play."

The project was led by Bucklesham Parish Council, with support from East Suffolk Council and the wider community.

Mark Packard, East Suffolk Council's cabinet member for planning and coastal management, said: "CIL funding is vital when Parish and Town Councils decide to upgrade their children’s facilities.

"Our congratulations to the clerk and the parish councillors for putting on well organised event for the community to enjoy."

Trevor Bickers and Mark Packard (Image: East Suffolk Council)

East Suffolk Council provided £45,000 from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) with delivery through the East Suffolk Local CIL Play Fund, with funding also provided by Bucklesham ward councillors Cllr Lee Reeves and Mike Ninnmey, who provided £1,000 from their Enabling Communities Budgets.

The CIL is a planning charge that is paid by developers as a tool for local authorities in England and Wales to deliver infrastructure to support development in an area and was introduced by the Planning Act 2008.

In East Suffolk, £26.3m in CIL funding has been allocated since 2017 to 81 local infrastructure projects including play areas, village halls and community centres, schools, transport schemes and GP surgeries.

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