Bell’s Yard playground plans to be revealed
Bell’s Yard Regeneration Group will present its proposals for the popular playground at Jesmond Library tomorrow (15th November) after consulting with local children who took part in a recent play event.
“The Bell’s Yard playground is the only children’s play area in North Jesmond, so it’s a really important space for families here, especially if they don’t have gardens but want to take their children to play outside,” said Stella Postlethwaite, Labour councillor for North Jesmond.
According to group chair Chris Newell, the last time a big project like this was done was more than 10 years ago, when the football pitch was installed. However, Newell says there was little budget left for other equipment, because of the cost of erecting fences to prevent footballs being kicked onto the adjacent Metro line.
The play event organised by the regeneration group last month sought the views from children playing in Bell’s Yard with the help of games and questionnaires designed by Newcastle University architecture students.
According to the architecture students, some of the issues raised during the play event included footballs coming over the fence and hitting young children. “It’s important that we don’t just come up with the ideas, then impose them on the children,” said Newell. “For example, an adult looking at the football pitch might just say, let’s put bigger netting or a wall all around it, but that might not create a good play environment.”
He said ideas from the children included new equipment they would like to see installed such as roundabouts, trampolines and better swings. Wendy Young, Labour’s other councillor in North Jesmond, said she would like to see more facilities for children with disabilities.
In terms of funding, the regeneration group has already secured a small amount of money and Newell said he is optimistic about raising enough through grants for five or six pieces of equipment. “We’re hoping that as we move into the funding stages we can raise some money from people locally that we can use as evidence to prove to grant funders that there is real interest in improving the playground.” He said Newcastle City Council, which owns the playground, has been supportive of the group’s efforts.
The Bell’s Yard Regeneration Group will be showing its plans for Bell’s Yard tomorrow (Thursday 15th November) at Jesmond Library from 6pm to 7pm. The fundraising page for the project can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bells-yard and for more information, you can visit the group’s Facebook page.