I was delighted to see the new play area at Newbury Road Recreation Ground open recently. This is replacing equipment that dates back to 2007, which were funded by a Labour Government scheme called Liveability. This time all the funding came from the Labour council, no central government funding on this occasion.
Ipswich has 93 play areas which are managed by Ipswich Borough Council (IBC). These facilities range from large installations in the major parks to smaller community areas in local neighbourhoods. Multi-unit games areas and smaller scale games areas have also been provided.

Play Areas are a valuable part of our parks and are loved by children as well as their parents, grandparents and carers. Play is an essential part of every child’s life and is vital for their development. Through play, children learn about themselves and the world around them. The play facilities in Ipswich have been designed to encourage a child’s physical, social and creative development.
Many people enjoyed parks, play areas and open spaces during the covid pandemic, which was very important for physical and mental health. There was a popular replacement of Dumbarton Road Recreation Ground which opened on “Super Saturday”, signalling the end of the first lockdown in July 2020.

The popularity and usage was noted by councillors and in March 2022, we agreed to invest £3.5million – including money from developers as part of planning agreements – over five years to fund a major programme of improvements to Play Areas right across the town.
First play area to complete was the Castle Hill Recreation Ground in July 2022 with a “Roman Villa” theme. The new play area was the first in Ipswich to feature an ability swing for wheelchair users.
Second upgrade was in February 2023 at Gippeswyk Park, the “Transport” themed facilities included a wheelchair-accessible roundabout. Then a big “Imagination Island” make-over for Holywells Park.
Now Newbury Road Recreation Ground has brand new equipment, which have great names such as Tutti Frutti, Wriggler and Firefox. There is also some fitness equipment in another part of the park, which all park users can enjoy.

The IBC parks team is focussed on safety and ensures that all the play equipment is safe. All play areas have several levels of inspection, from weekly visual, quarterly full inspection and an annual RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) inspection. Of course, children do play happily on old equipment, though new equipment is greatly appreciated and attracts more usage.

Newbury Park is in the shadow of the maternity block at Ipswich Hospital. While my son was happily playing on the Firefox, I was able to reflect on the continuing increase in the waiting lists at ESNEFT, the hospital trust that includes Ipswich Hospital. September figures show that 88,197 people are on the waiting list – it keeps going up and up.

The longer the Conservatives are in power, the longer people in Ipswich will wait for care. After 13 long years of Tory rule our local public services are on their knees. That means pain, anxiety and lives put on hold.
Time for change! Labour has a plan to get our NHS back on its feet. We would make building an NHS fit for the future a central mission of the next Labour Government, starting with one of the greatest workforce expansions our health service has ever seen – fully funded by scrapping the non-dom status.

Labour controlled Ipswich Borough Council has made a commitment to a Play Area Strategy which will provide a step-change improvement to our Play Areas. I am also looking forward to a Labour government that will provide a step-change improvement to our NHS.