howard mcsweeney1 wrote: . . . but the only statutory obligation of the town council is the upkeep of allottments, so it is only if they feel like being nice that they will help on this one.
Not quite right Howard, local councils (i.e. parish and town) have six statutory duties, plus a general power of competence to do anything a normal person would do.
One of these duties is to consider the impact of their decisions on reducing crime and disorder in their area. So if it is likely that a play area will reduce anti-social behaviour from the targeted age group in that area then it should be considered a priority, but there needs to be evidence to back this up.
But as Paul says above, there are many factors to consider a play area, one of the main ones being that the area should be safe both in terms of the physical safety of the equipment available and the location being safe for unsupervised children, something we have been struggling with in Lydden for several years. DDC officers have provided us with a report on the safety of our available sites and continue to help in many other ways.