Disabled daughter excluded from playground - family

A family have criticised plans for the upgrade of a local playground in Bromsgrove, which they said will exclude their young daughter because of her disability.

The district council is spending £2m upgrading playgrounds across the town, with work set to start on Upland Grove Park.

But Gillian Crosby-Read lives next to the site with her three-year-old daughter Dakota, who relies on a walker, claimed the council wanted to save £25,000 by not making the park fully accessible for disabled people.

Ruth Bamford, assistant director for planning, leisure and culture services at the council, said some changes had been made, but not all the requests from the family could be met.

"There's no need for them not to include all children, so then you have to question if is this ignorance or if they're just wilfully excluding children," Ms Crosby-Read said.

Dakota's parents said part of the park, particularly the climbing frame, would be inaccessible to their daughter and other disabled children.

The new frame will have four entrance points, all of which are vertical, meaning Dakota had "no chance" of being able to get up them, even with support, her family said.

Ms Crosby-Read said they had been in touch with the council and made low-cost suggestions about the plans and had also provided feedback during the consultation but did not hear back from the authority.

"I feel like I wish the council would do better and that they would see all children, not just able-bodied children first, because implementing a ramp, for example, it doesn't take away from able-bodied children; it just opens things up to more children," Ms Crosby-Read said.

Bamford said the council was aware of the issues, and there were ways of dealing with them, but more time was needed.

One option would be to extend the play area and provide more appropriate equipment, which was estimated at about £25,000.

"It's a possibility, and councillors have not made a decision on that yet," she said.

However, she said it might be better to provide specific equipment for children with disabilities in "strategic parks" like Sanders Park in the centre of Bromsgrove, which would be "more accessible for more families" with parking, a cafe and toilets.

"It might be better to focus the provision of specialist equipment rather than having it in different play areas," she said.