Families can pick five favourite pieces of equipment for a new play area at Spencer Way until 31 October. The council plans to build it in spring 2027.

A new children’s play area is planned for the green at Spencer Way in Broadwater, and Stevenage Borough Council wants families to choose what goes in it. The council is asking children to pick their five favourite pieces of play equipment. Replies are open until 31 October 2026.

The council announced the plan on 16 September. It says the play area will be for children up to 10 years old, and that it plans to build it in spring 2027. It has promised an official opening for local residents once the work is finished.

What the council has said so far

  • Where: the green at Spencer Way, in the SG2 8 postcode area in the south east of the town.
  • Who it is for: children up to the age of 10.
  • What it is asking: each person picks their five favourite pieces of play equipment.
  • Deadline: 31 October 2026.
  • Build: spring 2027, followed by an official opening.

The notice does not give a budget, a design or a start date beyond “spring 2027”. It does not say how the play area is being funded, or whether older children and teenagers will get anything on the site.

The same method shaped seven play areas in 2024

The council has used this “top five” approach before. In 2024 it asked residents and children which five items of play equipment they most wanted before it refurbished seven play areas. The council said in July 2024 that:

  • over 250 children helped decide what went into the designs
  • the new kit included trampolines, a group swing and activity trails
  • it spent £455,000 across the seven sites
  • it worked with the campaign group Make Space for Girls on hang-out spaces for girls, mostly at Canterbury Way Playing Fields

The seven were Camps Hill, Parishes Mead, Lapwing Rise, Shearwater Close, Canterbury Way Playing Fields, Riccat Lane and Chancellors Road. So the answers given now are likely to show up in what gets built.

What it means for you

If you live near Spencer Way and have children under 11, this is your chance to shape a play area you will be using for years. The form takes a few minutes. You can fill it in through the link on the council’s Spencer Way page, which opens a Microsoft Forms survey.

Children can take part too, and the 2024 designs show their votes carried weight. If they want a trampoline or a group swing, now is the time to say so.

Until the new one opens, the nearest council play area is in Shephalbury Park, under a kilometre to the north. The council says its play area, reached from Lodge Way, was improved in 2010 and has equipment for toddlers, juniors and teens. For half-term ideas in the meantime, see our guide to October half term in Stevenage.