A story on the front page of Saturday’s Guernsey Press alerted Environment & Infrastructure president Lindsay de Sausmarez to fundraisers’ frustration about delays which have hit the project.
She has since contacted the Guernsey Wooden Spoon charity, which raised thousands of pounds to purchase a new spider’s web after safety concerns forced the removal of the old one 18 months ago, and has pledged to speed up preparations for the play equipment to be installed.
‘As a parent of young children myself, I know how much the playground at Saumarez Park is appreciated, and how much kids will enjoy the new spider’s web,’ said Deputy de Sausmarez.
‘We are lucky to have people with the drive to fundraise for new equipment like this and people in the community generous enough to donate to it.
‘The States has to balance a lot of competing priorities, but giving children greater opportunity to spend time outdoors, climbing and clambering, has to be up there among them.
‘After reading Saturday’s Guernsey Press, I reached out to Karen Solway [Wooden Spoon chairman] to give her my assurance that this work will be expedited.
‘I have arranged to meet her and States officials this week to talk through the plans and make sure they progress as quickly as possible.’
The new spider’s web has been in storage in the island since last year awaiting preparatory work which needs to be carried out on the site before it can be installed.
That includes removing rotten wood chip flooring to check the condition of the ground underneath, load testing the anchor points of the original web to assess their integrity, and working out if a new type of safety flooring will be required.
A spokesman for the States told the Guernsey Press in January and again last week that a small team of staff who look after such projects hoped to carry out the work ‘as soon as possible’ but that it had to be managed ‘alongside a number of competing priorities’.
Despite the clear level of public interest in replacing the spider’s web, it is understood that the delays to the preparatory work and responses to media enquiries were not reported to Deputy de Sausmarez or other members of her committee, who are responsible for Saumarez Park.
‘I am delighted that Lindsay has got in touch and hopefully that will get things moving,’ said Miss Solway yesterday.
‘The new spider’s web has been in the island for the last 14 months and its installation is long overdue.’
The previous climbing frame was well used by children for two decades before being removed in October 2023.
Fundraisers said during their successful effort to raise money that the new climbing frame would be similar to the old one and hoped it would have a lifespan of about 15 years.
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