Crawley Borough Council has completed refurbishment of the Loppets Road play area in Tilgate and Ifield Green play area.
These refurbishments form part of the council’s wider playground investment programme, fully funded by developers through Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy payments. Each scheme has been designed by contractor Proludic Ltd to create a strong first impression and reflect the local character, with bespoke features tailored to the area. All schemes are anticipated to be completed by the summer holidays.
At Loppets Road play area, the design was inspired by a ‘shapes, space and movement’ theme linking to the nearby daycare nursery, creating a bright, colourful and inclusive space where children of all ages and abilities can play together.
The new play equipment includes toddler and junior multi-play units, a face-to-face springer, a climbing hut, a wheelchair accessible roundabout, combination swings suitable for all ages and abilities, a Ninja trail transitional zone, and a bespoke sensory area.
At Ifield Green play area, the chosen ‘jungle adventure’ theme is brought to life through the Amazonia multi-play unit, a monkey springer, and imaginative play opportunities created by the ‘jungle-gym’ agility course.
The new play equipment includes a bespoke Kanope multi-play unit, a Hip-Hop spinning seesaw, a Ninja trail, a bespoke sensory area featuring play panels designed to provide visual and tactile stimulation, and combination swings suitable for all ages and abilities.
The refurbishments also included the installation of new safer surfacing throughout the play areas, along with improvements to access routes and footpaths to support safer and more inclusive use of the facilities.
Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of Crawley Borough Council, Councillor Chris Mullins, Cabinet member for Leisure and Wellbeing, and local ward councillors Olu Adeniyi (Tilgate), Emma Whiteoak (Tilgate), Julian Charatan (Ifield), Grainne Conway (Ifield) and Beni Yianni (Ifield) visited the Loppets Road and Ifield Green play areas yesterday to mark the reopening. They were joined in Ifield Green by teachers and pupils from Our Lady Queen of Heaven Primary School.
It was fantastic to see the newly refurbished Loppets Road and Ifield Green play areas open for local families. The new equipment at each play area provides inclusive, accessible and imaginative play opportunities for children of all ages and abilities. It demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving play facilities across Crawley’s neighbourhoods.
Councillor Chris Mullins
Crawley Borough Council
We’re really pleased to be continuing our partnership with Crawley Borough Council as the play area improvement programme progresses. It’s great to see Loppets Road and Ifield Green now complete and already benefiting local families, with each space designed to reflect the character of the local area and the community it serves. As we move towards the final stages, we remain committed to delivering high-quality play environments that will be enjoyed for years to come.
Tim Bird
Senior Area Manager, South East
Proludic Ltd
As part of the delivery of the investment programme, Proludic Ltd has committed to a number of environmental measures across all six sites. These include the use of Nike Grind Safety Surfacing which incorporates recycled Nike Grind material, re-purposing the rubber equivalent of more than 53,000 worn out Nike shoes across the six sites.