Playground
Playground update: January 2026
Last Spring, following an adverse RoSPA report on the safety of the playground equipment, the Llangrove Village Hal lCommittee took the painful decision to, first, close the playground and then to have the equipment dismantled. A Community Group was quickly established to set about designing and funding a new playground. The Group sought quotes, ideas and advice from five companies with track records for providing safe and high quality equipment and surfacing. From these, three companies were invited to make a presentation to a well-attended village meeting in October 2025. Based on the anticipated cost of the project, as advised by the chosen companies (£90-100,000), an application was made by the Playground Group for National Lottery funding, and a programme of fund-raising events was commenced. The local fund-raising has so far proven to be very successful, with the fund currently standing at around £11,000, but the Lottery turned out to be a major disappointment, when the request for financial support was declined.
The Playground Group, undaunted, has turned to Plan B - continued local fund-raising events, a revised search programme for grant-aid and a quest for help from local businesses for works or sponsorship.
Following the public consultation, Creative Play have been chosen as the Playground Group’s partner in this venture and, by the end of January 2026, a phased and cheaper programme of works is expected, meaning a longer term for the whole project but an earlier appearance of some equipment on the ground. This will very much depend upon early and continued local help in preparing the ground for Creative Play to do their magic. The site will need to be cleared of the remaining timber, levelled to create a useable surface and seeded to allow for a grass/mat finish. A Phase 1 target of about £30,000 has been identified to prepare the site and to install the first round of play equipment.
