Playground equipment shut over safety fears

7:48 pm on 20 March 2023
The swings are closed at this Carterton playground in Wairarapa.

Carterton's playground swing set is closed Photo: Local Democracy Reporting/ Emily Ireland

Swings which do not comply with national playground standards have been removed from Carterton's Carrington Park.

A Carterton District Council (CDC) spokesperson said they received a service request on Sunday about a broken swing.

'Danger, keep out' tape was put up around the equipment, and the swings were removed from the frame.

The removal followed a report released last year recommending the renewal or replacement of the swings.

"Our parks team responded to assess the situation, and we made the decision to close off all the swings, ahead of further maintenance to repair the broken swing and make similar replacements to each swing on the set," a spokesperson said.

"Our parks and reserves team have started ordering the parts to complete the repairs to the swings.

"We complete inspections of all playgrounds and parks, team members check our equipment at least weekly, and it is on our run sheet to complete a daily visual check."

The compliance report, which was released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act last year, said CDC's playgrounds were 61 percent compliant with national standards.

Nine playground items had a "poor" condition rating, and 24 had a rating of "good" or above.

The council aimed to achieve 85 percent compliance during the next five years at Carrington, Howard Booth, South End, and Bird Parks.

The report recommended the renewal or replacement of the South End Park turnstile, and Carrington Park's swings, lullaby swing, mouse wheel, and flying fox.

The replacement or renewal of Carrington Park's safety surface loose-fill and tiles was also recommended.

The report said one problem area was the potential for entrapment. Fingers or clothing could get caught in the parts of slides, swing chains, and the seesaw.

Swings could be brought up to standard by putting a protective sleeve over the chain.

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