Jersey parents say island needs more play areas

The island needs more parks, play areas and spaces for young people, parents and grandparents in Jersey have said.

Families have welcomed two new playgrounds in the Parade Gardens, opened by the Parish of St Helier, but have said there need to be more like them.

Previously, the Assistant Minister for Children and Families Deputy Malcolm Ferey announced plans to create play areas in all 12 of the island's parishes.

Mother Lucy said spaces like the Parade playgrounds were "very important" for her nine-year-old daughter Adelaide and three-year-old son William.

William said he had fun at the Parade park because "there were so many kids" and he liked playing with his sister.

Adelaide said it was one of the best playgrounds she had ever been to and the swings and the slide were her favourite pieces of equipment.

Lucy said town needs more new parks because "most people live there".

"You don't really need the stress of using the bus to go outside town to go to great parks and great beaches," she said.

She added that free access to swimming pools around the island would make it easier to entertain children, because often entry to the pools can be "too expensive".

Tommy, aged four, said the Parade playgrounds were "amazing", while his friend Archie, aged six, said he liked "the big spider web" because everyone could climb on it.

Archie's grandmother Mary said the new playgrounds were fantastic but there was definitely a lack of facilities for children in the school holidays, particularly outside town.

She said: "I live in St Clement and there's absolutely no parks in St Clement.

"Maybe behind St Clement's parish hall would be nice - nice little park there, that we can walk to and the kids can have a little run about because I mean in the winter the beach is not really suitable is it?"

Tommy's dad Jack agreed it would be great to have "two or three more [parks] dotted around the island".

Dawn Kennedy is the co-owner of Perch in the Park, the café in the Parade Gardens.

She and her 17-month-old grandson were the first people to use the new play parks.

She said the playgrounds created a "dramatic overnight change" in the atmosphere of the area and there should be parks on every street corner.

She said: "It's great for families and there's places people can go now when they live in town rather than just the old, battered parks."

Ms Kennedy added the inclusive design of the new play parks, with accessible features for children with disabilities, meant that she'd seen a "wide range of people from different communities" coming to the Parade Gardens.

Town centre manager Connor Burgher said evidence suggests younger children in Jersey are not getting as much exercise as they should so he hopes the new Parade playgrounds will "help improve the wellbeing of young people".

He said the park has been designed with the help of children in the island and the results speak for themselves.

He said: "What's really good is that the equipment is inclusive and it's good for people of all ages and of all abilities and there really is something for everyone."

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