New play at Fineshade Wood

For some time now, we have wanted to create new wildlife themed play areas at Fineshade Wood to encourage more people to make the most of the health and wellbeing benefits of being in the forest and to learn about local wildlife. 

• In late 2022 we asked people about this play proposal and over 97% were in support, out of over 500 responses.
• At the end of 2023 we asked for input again, by asking people to help us develop the details of our requirements, as we wanted to understand our local community’s needs so that we could make sure these new play areas are useable and appealing to as many people as possible.
• Since then we have been securing funding, liaising with people about how we can best meet the requirement for the play to be as accessible and inclusive as possible, and going out to the industry to find the right partner to work with through a competitive procurement process. 
• As part of improvements at Fineshade Wood we opened a Changing Places facility, updated the surfacing in the courtyard,  and added some sensory play features next to the Oak Leaf play area. We then carried out resurfacing to some stretches of forest trail to make them more easily used by people in wheelchairs, including to the locations where the new play areas are to be. 
• After a competitive procurement exercise, we selected Earth Wrights as the best company for us to work with to realise our ambitions for these play areas. Working in collaboration, and using the insight we gained from speaking with families and representatives of those with additional accessibility needs, the designs were fine tuned.
• And after all that work behind-the-scenes, work is now underway to create these new play areas! Work started at the end of September 2024.
• The incredibly wet Autumn we experienced meant that the clay ground at Fineshade became incredibly waterlogged (and muddy). This means we need to review the options for improving the ground conditions so that it is safe around the new play structures. Our civil engineers, landscape architects and recreation managers are working together to find and implement a solution so that not only are the ground conditions significantly improved, they also stay that way should we see another period of very wet weather.  
• Currently we anticipate the play areas being open sometime in Spring 2025