Our playground isn’t open

[Heartonsleeve89]

The playground in our park isn’t open, despite guidelines for England saying it was ok to open from yesterday.
Apparently people jumped the fence with their toddlers and kids and the police came to shut it down.
I think it’s pathetic when pubs, cafes and restaurants are allowed to have people indoors. And this is outdoors! Children are missing out AGAIN

Some are assuming the guidance is advisory and proceeding on that basis.

They don’t need to make any assumptions. It’s written down. First here:

Please note: This guidance is of a general nature and should be treated as a guide. In the event of any conflict between any applicable legislation (including the health and safety legislation) and this guidance, the applicable legislation shall prevail.

and then under ‘Purpose of this guidance’:

It contains non-statutory guidance to be taken into account when complying with these existing obligations.

If parish councillors are confused or unsure they should seek advice, or do a small amount of research. I can understand that a parish council will find having the right expertise more difficult than a large local authority, but deciding that because it seems too difficult they just won’t bother simply isn’t good enough. The HSE is the regulating authority and can advise if anyone is honestly confused.

Anyone working in a local authority whose job is to interpret guidance and carrying out formal risk assessments
Many playgrounds are owned by parish councils. Councillors are often volunteers or civilians who are paid for a couple of hours per month. They aren’t local authority employees and they probably have little experience with risk assessments or interpreting government guidance.

My parish council has been told that the local authority won’t provide any guidance, the parish playgrounds aren’t their problem and it’s up the the volunteers on the parish council to figure it out. Unsurprisingly they have just voted to skip the whole problem by keeping playgrounds closed.

ours has a sign saying how many can be in it at one time and parents are supposed to clean it before use. the council is spraying it once a week.

I am also absolutely furious about this. Kids overlooked yet again. We have a national obesity crisis on our hands with primary age kids yet the council doesn't think getting playgrounds open is a priority? Kids have been stuck indoors for months and we are finally given the go-ahead only to be told we need to wait longer. For what? Risk assessments and a deep clean? The equipment hasn't been used in months! And I can do a risk assessment in about 30 seconds - it will say, enter at your own risk, don't cough in anyone's face and wash your hands after. Kids are more likely to get struck by lightening than die from Covid. It should be a priority to open these essential spaces. I honestly think Covid has given all our public services the chance to bunk off and excuse themselves from delivering public services. Why did councils not get their act together 2 weeks ago???

cantstop
The cleaning is not about how long its been shut
its between every potentially contaminated person

and as was shown with the pubs last night
English people are rather lacking in common sense

therefore councils are taking the precautionary principle
until Downing street get off their arses and issue guidance that might actually work

same as the guidance for schools is COMPLETELY unworkable

I live over the road from a playground and in lockdown there is on average 15-20 kids a day on it. Drives my little girl mad as I won't let her on that germ infested apparatus. Even if it did open I definitely won't let her, the risk is too great.

And I can do a risk assessment in about 30 seconds
Good for you. Would you still do it if you were told you could be fined or jailed if you get it wrong? I don’t blame volunteers on parish councils for saying it’s beyond their skills.

Even if it did open I definitely won't let her, the risk is too great.
Did you let her on it before?
Is your area a COVID hotspot?
Are there really germs on the play equipment ?

Our local playgrounds are still locked too. Hopefully can open soon. My DD was disappointed when we went to the park today

My local parish council is crying out for volunteers and is short of councillors - I’m sure many are. Plenty of opportunities to get involved and do a better job than the incumbents...

I think some people don’t understand the reality of say a parish council versus a City/District/County Council.

Many playgrounds are owned by parish councils. Councillors are often volunteers or civilians who are paid for a couple of hours per month. They aren’t local authority employees and they probably have little experience with risk assessments or interpreting government guidance.

No, I’m sorry, this doesn’t wash. Risk assessments are already required for these facilities. This guidance just makes it clear that Covid must now be part of that risk assessment. Being able to do this was already a requirement.

If you’re going to take on a major responsibility then you need to equip yourself to do it properly, or seek advice and support on how to do so. If they aren’t capable of carrying out this risk assessment they aren’t capable of carrying out their existing duty to risk assess the playground.

Plus parish councils should have a parish clerk, and if they don’t have someone suitably qualified, or train them to be suitably competent, then they are failing.

Ultimately, the ‘it’s too hard and I can’t be bothered to learn, so fuck the kids’ excuse is abysmally inadequate.

Our village meadow and football pitch has remained open, but the play park within is still locked up.

Such a shame for us. It’s fenced all the way around so I could actually sit on a bench and DD19mo could run round like a nutter but not escape.

I might write to our parish council and suggest that I may lose the plot if it’s not open by the summer holidays....

JassyRadlett
I suggest you stand for election and become a councillor then
as you clearly are far more competent than the tens of thousands of current incumbents

or take ILCA and become a clerk
as its so simple in your portrayal

Totally ridiculous keeping them closed while we wait for the council to copy paste a few paragraphs into their risk assessment

Our local small park on our housing estate has no barriers for entry or exit and no natural place to attach any 'guidance' they may come up with for use. It was fairly full of children every day after school last week. Pretty hard to justify not using it cos of a risk assessment likely performed by people I would consider a lot less able to assess the real risks than I can myself depending on the situation. Just ridiculous red tape/box ticking that everyone will ignore anyway, what is the point. Probably will just use it anyway if the weather is nice as I'm probably the only person in the local area who realises that it isn't technically open.

I suggest you stand for election and become a councillor then
as you clearly are far more competent than the tens of thousands of current incumbents

^or take ILCA and become a clerk
as its so simple in your portrayal^

I don’t live in an area with parish councils, and I’m certainly not saying being a parish councillor or a parish clerk is simple. They are important jobs, and should be treated seriously by the people taking them on.

Which is why the ‘this is difficult and you can’t expect volunteers / parish clerks to do difficult things’ is infuriating. Particularly when it is wheeled out as an excuse now when these requirements (eg performing a risk assessment) have always existed.

Local people deserve better local government than that.

If a parish council can’t find sufficient people who are prepared to take the job seriously, local people would be better off if it was abolished or amalgamated into a larger parish capable of carrying out playground risk assessments.

I had a look on our council website and it says playgrounds will start reopening next week. It had some guidance as to using the playgrounds. Apparently we should be using hand gel on our DC's hands at a minimum everytime they swap equipment and in fact everytime they touch a piece of equipment - so everytime they touch a new rung on the ladder?! We have to clean the piece of equipment with wipes before they can use it and no eating or drinking can happen in the playground. So everytime they need some water we need to leave the playground. And of course we need to make sure they are 2m apart from the other DC using the equipment. I'm happy they're trying to keep us safe but honestly it seems a bit over the top to me!

Cedartree
I'm happy they're trying to keep us safe but honestly it seems a bit over the top to me!
THe council did not write those dumb rules - Whitehall did
see the links up thread

@ListeningQuietly - well that doesn't suprise me.