By Charlotte Ndupuechi.
Southampton has some amazing parks and green spaces. From the Common to the Sports Centre, they are places where families gather, children play and communities come together. They are among the city’s greatest assets.
That’s why two recent developments have left me wondering what is going on.
The first concerns the play area on Southampton Common. A sign has been put up informing visitors that work is due to begin to upgrade the play equipment and is expected to take eight weeks.
Let’s be clear: no one is against investing in better facilities. New and improved play equipment is something every family will welcome. But the obvious question is why this work is starting just as the school summer holidays begin?
For many families, the Common is one of the best free days out in the city. During the summer holidays it is at its busiest, so closing the playground at exactly that time seems difficult to justify. With many people already discussing the significant increases in New Forest parking charges, losing one of Southampton’s most popular free attractions for much of the summer will come as another bitter blow for local families.
The sign also states that the work is expected to take eight weeks. Naturally, that raises another question. Why is such a lengthy closure necessary? If this project has been planned for some time, could the work not have been scheduled outside the school holidays or carried out in stages to minimise disruption?
I’ve also learned that plans for a new family zone at Southampton Sports Centre, including a splash pad, have been quietly dropped as part of revised proposals. At a time when councils are encouraging healthier lifestyles and more outdoor activity, removing a family attraction that would have been enjoyed by thousands of local children seems like a step backwards and was scraped because of increased costs. You can sign a petition for a new splash pad here.
I don’t believe that is good enough.
When the council announces a major project and promises facilities to residents, those promises should be honoured. Every construction project carries the risk of rising costs, which is why budgets, contracts and procurement are so important. In my opinion, the council should have ensured that the agreed costs for key elements of the project were protected, rather than allowing one of the headline family attractions to disappear.
Many of the facilities that people will have to pay to use are still going ahead, yet one of the very few free attractions for families has been sacrificed.
At a time when so many households are struggling to make ends meet, surely we should be protecting free activities for children, not cutting them.
Southampton regularly celebrates its parks and green spaces as some of the best in the country, yet decisions like these suggest that families are not always at the forefront of the council’s thinking.
Our parks are more than open spaces. They are where communities come together. They play a vital role in the health and wellbeing of our city.
Southampton should continue to invest in these spaces—but it also needs to think more carefully about how and when those investments are delivered. Projects should be planned around the needs of residents, not around convenience. Is it really too much to ask?
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