Zip wire, goal wall and climbing net among exciting plans for '˜interactive' children's play area at Hartlepool park

Rossmere Park’s children’s play area is set to get a revamp with a variety of new pieces of equipment.

They include an interactive football goal wall, a zip line, climbing net and ball court.

Hartlepool Borough Council, which owns the park, is hoping to secure planning permission for the new facilities which will replace existing and dated equipment.

Supporting documentation lodged by the council as part of the planning application states: “The proposals incorporated within this application directly relate to the use of the site as a public park and seek to improve and enhance the informal recreational facilities offered, particularly for children and young people.

“The visual appearance of the wider site as a parkland setting will be enhanced by the proposed works, replacing clearly dated equipment with new facilities.”

The proposed interactive football wall is made up of impact sensitive panels which react when struck by a ball.

It would be located within a court measuring 30ft by 45ft with artificial turf.

It comes with a range of games that can be played by children on their own, in groups or in teams with each game designed to develop a particular skill or provide a different type of challenge.

Fencing to keep balls in the play area, a basket swing, spinners and six benches are also proposed.

New trees are also due to be planted as part of landscaping to help deal with rain water and make the area fit more into the rest of the park.

The council’s design statement added: “The proposed layout reduces the hard surfacing that currently dominates the space, providing opportunities for softening the area with grass surfacing and new tree planting.”

It added: “Full consideration has been given to inclusive access to the site and a number of the items of equipment are fully suitable for less able bodied users including the nest swing and spinners.”

People can see the application in full and comment on it on the council’s website www.hartlepool.gov.uk

Enter the reference number H/2017/0670 on the Search for a Planning Application page.