Kings Park Play Area Rebuild: £186,200, Done Mid-October

The rebuild of the Kings Park play area has started. Contractors went on site on 1 September, BCP Council says the work will take about seven weeks, and the council’s own project page books completion for mid-October.

The budget is £186,200, the largest of the Bournemouth play areas in the council’s published Plan for Play designs. The new playground, supplied by equipment firm Hags, is built around climbing, swinging and what the council calls adventurous play. It includes:

• a zip-wire
• a large multi-play unit with ramped access
• a new wide slide
• a carousel and a wheelchair accessible roundabout
• an inclusive see-saw
• new swings, slides and climbing equipment

The design was shaped by a public consultation in summer 2025, and the council says the balance is deliberate: challenging equipment for older children alongside quieter, inclusive sections.

Cllr Andy Hadley, the council’s portfolio holder for parks, said: “We know just how important Kings Park is to the surrounding community, it is a brilliant park.” Cllr Sandra Moore, portfolio holder for the play strategy, called the programme “a fantastic example of how the Council can work alongside passionate community groups to deliver real and lasting improvements.”

Part of a £4.6 million programme

Kings Park is one of around 100 play areas covered by the council’s Plan for Play, a £4.6 million investment approved in December 2024. Full replacements at Bourne Valley (£139,800) and Treasure Island in Poole (£130,951) are already complete, and Noyce Gardens, which closed on 21 August for its £181,500 rebuild, is due back by the end of September.

Still to come on the published list: Mallard Road (£104,000), Muscliff Park (£134,700) and, on the Poole side, Hamworthy Park (£187,900), Alexandra Park (£101,200), Haskells Rec (£170,300) and a £400,000 rebuild of Baiter Skatepark.

What it means for you

• The Kings Park play area, on the Ashley Road side of the park (BH1 4NN), is a building site until roughly mid-October, so plan for somewhere else with the buggy for the next few weeks. The council has not published which parts, if any, stay open during the works.
• The rest of the park, including the cricket ground and the athletics centre side, is not part of these works.
• We listed every Bournemouth site, budget and design in our Plan for Play coverage in August.

Sources

• BCP Council, new adventures to get underway with major refurb of Kings Park play area, 24 August 2026 for the 1 September start, the seven-week estimate, the equipment list, the Hags appointment, the summer 2025 consultation and both councillor quotes.
• BCP Council, Plan for Play concept plans, updated 1 September 2026, for the £186,200 Kings Park budget, the mid-October completion, and the budgets and status of the other sites.