District Dispatch - 30 September 2025

I'd like to thank to everyone who has taken the time to share their thoughts with us. The feedback we have received has been fantastic and your comments are greatly appreciated by everyone who has been involved.

Major upgrades have now been completed at Priory Park, Parklands, Whyke Oval, and Oaklands Park, following improvements to Florence Road play area earlier in the year.

If you haven't visited Oaklands Park play area yet, I'd really encourage you to go and explore it. We've transformed the space into a flagship 'destination play area' — a vibrant and inclusive space that aims to bring joy to families; support children's physical, social, creative and emotional development; and enhance the city's appeal as a visitor destination.

Thanks to additional investment from Chichester City Council, the new play area is larger than a typical park and offers a full 'day out' experience for residents and visitors alike. It features a wide variety of physical, creative, and inclusive play equipment to encourage longer visits and imaginative play.

For younger children, there's a climbing tower with net and slide; a multi-play tractor, spinner bowl, springer 'bugs', and stepping pods. Older children can enjoy a challenging climbing unit, zip wire, and supernova (round balance beam). Children of different ages and abilities can also test their speed and strength over an agility trail with an interactive play timer, or get creative with tactile, imaginative and musical elements.

It's really important to us that all of our play areas are open and accessible to everyone, and so we worked closely with a local children's charity, Parents and Carers Support Organisation (PACSO), to ensure that our plans feature a range of inclusive play equipment. In Oaklands Park, you'll find inclusive items such as a tower with ramp and slides; basket, cradle and 'you and me' swing seats; and roundabout and trampoline.

This transformation is part of a £800,000 project to revitalise and enhance our five play areas in Chichester. As we head into the final phase of the project, which will see work start at the Amphitheatre this autumn, I'd like to thank everyone who helped shape our new and improved play areas — from the children, parents and carers who use the spaces and shared their ideas for improvements, to those who gave their views in our public consultation earlier this year. And, of course, this project couldn't have become a reality without the hard work of our Parks and Gardens team, who have done a wonderful job. We are also hugely grateful to the local organisations and partners who helped deliver this project, including Chichester City Council for their support and additional investment in the Oaklands Park project.

All the play areas have been very well received by the community and it's been fantastic to see them so well used since they reopened. If you and your family want to explore these play areas, you can find your nearest one on our Chichester District Council app. The app allows you to sort the play areas by distance and can also display them on a map. You can download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

As well as looking after our play areas, our 12-strong Green Spaces team cares for and manages a range of parks; gardens; ponds; sports pitches; local nature reserves; and open spaces. When you next visit one of these spaces, please give our team a wave if they're out and about. You can find out more about their work on our Parks and Gardens web page.

Best Wishes

Cllr Mark Chilton

Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate Services and Chichester Contract Services at Chichester District Council