4 Top Objectives For Maintaining Attractive Public Parks

Public parks should be the flagship shop window of any city or town. Citizens and residents want to take civic pride in their parks and not find them to be an embarrassment, due to lack of maintenance. For this reason, the responsible authorities need to make sure that their parks are clean, safe, green and accessible to all the people who want to enjoy them including the handicapped who may have mobility challenges.

Maintaining a park is not just about cutting the grass and trimming hedges as there is far more to the challenge than this to keep a public park and oval maintained in tip top condition for all the many users and uses who want to enjoy its facilities.

1. Safety first in the children’s areas

Public park and oval maintenance needs to start with a firm focus on safety for all park users and the maintenance company needs to be constantly working to ensure there is no danger of injury or even death to any park visitors due to negligence.  Most public parks have areas set aside for children’s’ play areas that include numerous pieces of equipment for the children to enjoy. It is essential to regularly check that the matting around slides, swings, seesaws and other equipment such as climbing frames is well maintained,. Any tears or worn patches are replaced and made good.

The equipment itself must be checked regularly, nuts and bolts checked tightened and if necessary lubricated. Any damaged equipment that cannot be repaired on site should be dismantled and removed from the playground immediately and taken to the park workshop for repair. Larger pieces of equipment such as a climbing frame that could only be repaired on site should be closed to visitors until such time as the repairs can be undertaken and it can be opened to the public again.

2. Parks are great locations for live events

A well run park is a great venue for all sorts of live events, in fact in London’s Hyde Park plays host to great music and artists with their “Tea in The Park” annual summer concert where tens of thousands of people come to enjoy a fine day out. Whatever the scale of event that is being planned in your park you may be surprised to learn just how much work has to go into making this event great fun for all and most importantly safe for the participants.

Everything needs to be planned and prepared, if you need a temporary stage it needs to be fully fit for purpose and strong enough to support all the artists and their equipment so there is no danger of breakage. Power supplies need to be fully certified and installed correctly to ensure there is no risk of a power outage or someone getting hurt or even killed by an electric shock.

Sufficient refreshment facilities and toilets need to be available to cater for the needs of the audience and they should all conform to health and safety regulations to make sure that there are no accidents or eco damage to the park during their use or after they have been dismantled and taken away. Poor or inadequate drainage could lead to pollution affecting the parks lakes or water courses and potentially could cause damage many months after the event has finished and the audience gone home.

3. Day to day park and oval maintenance is vital to its attraction

Car parks, walkways, bike tracks, ponds, lakes, trees and the parkland itself all need carefully attention on a daily basis. Park maintenance staff should be given a daily routine of patrolling the park to look out for any facilities that need attention to ensure that the park remains safe and attractive. For example after a storm it is essential to clear storm debris from the ground and more importantly check if there are tree branches or even trees that are in a dangerous condition of falling on an unsuspecting passer-by.  Next up drains for your lakes or walkways need to be checked regularly to make sure that they are not blocked. A sudden down pour could turn parts of the park into a quagmire that could be dangerous for visitors who could slip and fall causing injury.

4. Check out your fitness course

Fitness courses are firm favourites for joggers and others using the park to get back into shape. One of the most popular attractions is a fitness course that follows the route and allows the enthusiast to break off their run or bike ride to practice some exercises. Each exercise station should be equipped with an information post explaining how to use the installation correctly and how many repetitions it is suggested that the enthusiast should do. The most important objective of the park maintenance crew is to ensure that the equipment is in good working order and also to make sure wooden equipment is kept clean and as dry as possible to avoid slipping and injury.