What We Heard from the Survey

Cedar Heights is a neighbourhood park, with plenty of regulars. Most people want to use the playground weekly (44.9 per cent) or several times a week (30.7 per cent).

Active Play is the top priority for new equipment, which is defined as any form of unstructured, child-led physical activity that gets children moving, breathing harder, and having fun. In second place was, risk-taking and challenges. This is defined as activity that involves uncertainty, physical challenge, and building resilience. It focuses on mastering skills, such as climbing high or moving fast.

The survey showed the top five priorities for play activities were:
• Climbing
• Swinging
• Sliding
• Tower Structure
• Balancing

Preferred colours are Natural and Earthy (41 per cent), followed by Natural and Vibrant (32 per cent. Preferred theme is Natural, Forest, Animals (46 Per cent) or no theme. (27 per cent).

Other themes:
• Repeated calls for larger swing sets and equipment for older children (5–12), not just toddler-focused.
• Interest in diverse play elements beyond traditional structures: including zipline, climbing features, water play and nature-based features.
• Many responses focus on making the park more comfortable and practical for families including shade structures, more seating and making fields safer and more level for informal sports.

Now we will look at incorporating your input into a playground design. Remember, there's not an unlimited budget. So we look to make the choices that best reflects the wishes of park users and offer the most value.

Current playground equipment
The playground at Cedar Heights Community Park features a large, colourful shade structure above a portion of children's play area.

It also has a number of features aimed at children ages 2-5 years:

• Spring toy
• 2 toddler swings

Features aimed at children aged 5-12 years include:

• Multi- platform structure
• Spiral slide
• 2 Track rides
• Tire swing
• Wavy wood bridge
• Suspension bridge
• Flexible climber
• 2 ridged climbers
• Tic-tac-toe panel play
• Ridged monkey bars

Stay tuned for more information about the design and installation of the new equipment!