Peckham Rye Park Adventure Playground Project
We will be transforming Peckham Rye Park Adventure Playground with new play equipment, paths and surfacing. This will improve the playground for local children, young people and families.
Peckham Rye Park Adventure Playground is being improved as part of a programme of improvements to Southwark Council's Adventure Playgrounds. The first phase of the project to improve the adventure play building has been completed.
The second phase is to improve the outdoor play facilities including the play equipment and landscape.
Initial open consultation
An initial open consultation held in January 2023 asked for views on the existing equipment and playground and also asked for suggestions on how it could be improved.
Download the initial consultation summary report (PDF, 1.1mb)
Design consultation
Summary of the consultation
We received a good number of responses (45), with many positive comments and useful feedback.
The following public feedback from the consultation has been used to update the design.
Main updates
- We showed two big swings in the design. These were popular so we have increased to three big swings.
- Respondents asked for more climbing equipment. An additional climbing wall is now in the design, and extra climbing holds have been added to the main towers.
- We have added monkey bars, which allow swinging from one platform to another. There will also be the rope nets, rope tunnels and the ladder, which you can swing from.
The final design is shown below.
Your feedback
We asked, do you like the new design? Feedback showed strong support for the new design with 71% liking it, and only 2% not liking the design. This is supported by other comments about the design, saying it looked enjoyable and exciting.
More swings
The design shown at consultation included two new big swings. These are similar to the old swings that were removed. In the past there have been up to five swings with a similar design in the playground. We have taken into consideration that big swings cannot be used by many children with disabilities. We need to allow space in the playground for equipment that all children can play on together. Therefore, we have added one more big swing to the design, bringing the total number to three. Unfortunately, there is not enough space for more.
Spaces for younger children
There were several comments about the design being for older children and not enough for younger children. The adventure playground is for children aged 8 to 15 years, so the equipment needs to be challenging but also inclusive for children with disabilities. Two open-access play areas nearby have equipment that is suitable for younger children:
- 100 metres away, near the pond
- 500 metres away, by the café in Peckham Rye Common
A bigger slide
Respondents asked for a longer and higher slide. The slide has been designed to be accessible for children with disabilities:
- it is extra wide so a carer can slide down with a disabled child
- the starting platform can be reached by going up a ramp with a gentle slope
Shade
People also asked for more shade, particularly given the extreme summer heat we’ve had in recent years. The design includes areas of shade in the play towers and below the big swings.There is also shade in the playground provided by the play building veranda and by trees. A canopy cannot currently be afforded in the budget but could be possible in the future if funding becomes available.
Our visitors
We also asked where people visit from. Most visits to the playground are regular visits from local children and families.
The under-represented groups identified include local people living in deprivation and Black people.
People from Asian backgrounds were fairly well represented, following no representation at the initial consultation.
Get a copy of the report
If you would like a PDF or paper copy of the consultation report or the final design, please email leisureprojects@southwark.gov.uk.
What’s next
The final design plans for the Adventure Playground shown above will need to be submitted to planning for approval. Construction works will follow later in 2024.
Page last updated: 19 March 2024
