Users go wild for new Vigo Park play area designs
Designs for a new play area at Vigo Park, which have been shaped by feedback from hundreds of residents across Andover as well as local disability groups, have been unveiled.
The vibrant Wild Park play area centres around an awe-inspiring animal theme, to spark and stimulate children’s imaginations. And has been designed with accessibility at its heart, to ensure that all children can enjoy it equally.
Brimming with bright, nature-inspired features, from thrilling slides and swings to wheelchair accessible trampolines and role play areas, the park reflects residents’ visions for a fantastic new play area.
And it’s all centred around a spectacular rope climbing dome, creating a tapestry of tantalising attractions to keep children entertained and active for hours, all while enjoying the fresh air.
Residents took part in a survey last year to share why they use Vigo Park currently, and what they’d like to see there in future.
Test Valley Borough Council shared their responses with play area design companies, before appointing nationally renowned playground specialists, KOMPAN, to finally bring people’s ideas to life.
They recently previewed the designs with users from local charities including Koala and Purple Oak Support, so they could share their thoughts. Some of their comments included:
• "I would make a special trip to the park and visit the town centre more."
• "I love the bright colours."
• "Very accessible for all users."
• "I like that you can see from all angles."
• "It has things I have never seen in a play area before!"
• "I love the dome!"
• "We love that it is made of recycled materials."
• "Lots of animals!"
• “We like the variety of swings for all users.”
• “Varied slides so I can build my confidence.”
At this stage, the scheme does not include water play as the cost to put the infrastructure in place to pump water to the site would use up almost the entire budget for the new park, severely limiting the amount of new equipment that could be installed. However, further work is underway to investigate how this feature could be included as part of the wider regeneration of the park and the council will make a further announcement on that later this year.
Work is planned to start on the new park at the end of May 2025, with the intention to open ready for the summer holidays.
Lee Roberts from Purple Oak Support, said: “Purple Oak Support were fortunate recently to be invited by Test Valley to view KOMPAN's comprehensive plan for the Vigo Park development. We are excited by the accessibility of the park's design, with a detailed focus on providing colourful, engaging and robust equipment to meet a variety of needs within our local area. The new park will be an amazing asset to the town, supporting all children and young people to access a vibrant and sensory friendly play area, aided by assistive communication boards. It is great to see Test Valley investing in a number of disability-inclusive projects, involving local charities, such as ourselves, in the process to ensure the views of our community are heard.”
Leader of Test Valley Borough Council, Councillor Phil North, said: “The new designs look absolutely amazing, and I’m really pleased that they have been shaped by our residents and user groups. Vigo Park is well loved and well used, but our residents told us that they really wanted a destination play area for their children to enjoy and I am delighted that the council has been able to deliver on that.”
Local councillor, Iris Andersen, added: “My fellow ward councillors, Debbie Cattell and Jan Budzynski, and I have all worked together to support the creation of this really brilliant new park for the entire community to enjoy. The designs are fantastic, and we can’t wait to see them come to life! It is great that they have received such positive feedback from Koala and Purple Oak Support too, and we’re really grateful to them for their help.”
Koala’s operations manager, Cheryl Bartlett, said: “Koala were honoured to be chosen as the first group to share our input for the plans of the new Vigo Park play area. The faces of our young people lit up when they saw the plans and were very keen share what they thought – some of which was disappointment that they had to wait for it to be built before they could go and play! It was lovely to see that so much thought had gone into the plans to allow young people with a variety of needs access the facilities.”
Some of the feedback to the initial survey was making sure the new play area focused on safety, so KOMPAN has designed the park to make sure that the whole of the space is clearly visible from all angles, and they have incorporated clear zoning for different age groups, supporting a secure and enjoyable experience for all users.