King George’s Park latest to benefit from five year playground investment programme worth £3.6m

Work is now complete on the playground’s £170,000 revamp, bringing the total spend on play area improvements since 2017 to £3.6m.

This latest upgrade to the playground was shaped by local families in the area who helped choose its new play equipment, which is designed for use by children of all ages up to the age of 16.

Since 2017 more than two dozen playgrounds across Wandsworth have been revamped, including at major open spaces like Battersea Park and Wandsworth Common but also at many smaller local neighbourhood parks like Swaby Gardens, Boutflower Road, Garratt Park, Upper Tooting Park, Godley Gardens, Chivalry Road and Falcon Park.

Another major spend was at the Lady Allen adventure playground on Wandsworth Common which is run by a charity supporting children with disabilities and special needs. Last year the council spent £153,000 on improvements in aid of the charity’s work, which is also supported by an annual council grant of £120,000 towards the playground’s day-to-day running costs.

Looking ahead major play area refurbishments are planned this summer at Coronation Gardens, where £158,000 has been earmarked for improvements and also at Tooting Common Lakeside playground with works scheduled to get underway next year on a £384,000 upgrade. Play spaces have just been unveiled on Battersea’s Patmore estate while work is due to begin next month to upgrade the play equipment at The Pleasance on the Dover House Road estate in Putney.

The funding for this investment comes from monies levied on property developers in the area who are required to help fund local infrastructure improvements that benefit the local community. This means that these upgrades have all been paid for by housing developers and not by the borough’s council tax payers.

Pictured here to mark the completion of works at King George’s Park, the council’s community services spokesman Cllr Steffi Sutters said: “The play equipment that’s been unveiled here was chosen by local families so I am delighted that we have been able to bring those choices to fruition.

“I think families with young children in this part of the borough will absolutely love their brilliant new-look playground.

“I am so pleased and proud that we have been able to improve and upgrade so many local playgrounds across the borough over the past five years. The money spent has made sure that our younger residents have some of the best equipped playgrounds in the capital with really exciting and challenging play equipment for them to enjoy.

“And I’m delighted that we have been able to set aside significant funds to carry on this important work at landmark playgrounds like the one next to the lake on Tooting Common, where work is due to begin next year.”