Abbot Hall Play Area Survey 2017

Summary Analysis Report

September October 2017

This report analyses the results from the Abbot Hall Play Area Survey conducted via a self-completion and online survey carried out between 31 August and 03 October 2017.

Contents

Introduction3Method3Respondents3Your use of the play area4Childrens play area6Any comments11About you11Appendix 1 - Comments13

Introduction

Abbot Hall Park is a popular park situated in the centre of Kendal. It has a play area, a bowling green and open spaces for visitors of all ages to enjoy.

South Lakeland District Council are seeking funds to improve the play are for local residents and visitors by redesigning it and installing new equipment. The play equipment is coming to the end of its life, it is worn and gradually pieces have been removed when they were beyond repair. The area is well used but does not provide play value for all ages and is neither exciting nor challenging.

The park itself is well used by local residents, we have been working with a group of park users to consider options for improving the play area. This survey has been conducted to collect peoples views on what they would like to see in the play area.

Method

The survey was advertised on South Lakeland District Councils social media pages and website. Posters were place in Abbot Hall Park, with paper copies of the survey available from South Lakeland House. There were three consultation events held in the park, while a community user group was set up to help with these events and spread the word about the survey.

Respondents

There were 200 complete usable responses to the survey. 163 were completed online, while 38 were submitted as paper copies.

Your use of the play area

Question 1: How often have you used the play area in the last year?

In a small group (1 to 4) The majority of respondents use the play area in small groups. Over a third (36%) use the play in a small group once or twice a month, while just under a quarter (23.5%) use it around once a week, and one in five (19%) use it less often than once a month. 15% use it 2-3 times a week while just 3% use it daily.

In a large group (5 or more) Fewer respondents use the play area in a large group, shown by the 18% that answered Never and the 25% that didnt answer the question. A third (32.5%) use it in a large group less than once a month, while one in five (19.5%) use it once or twice a month. Only 5% use the play area while in a large group at least once a week.

Every day

2-3 times a week

Around once a week

Once or twice a month

Less often

Never

Not Answered

In a small group (1 to 4)

6

3.0%

30

15.0%

47

23.5%

72

36.0%

38

19.0%

4

2.0%

3

1.5%

In a large group

(5 or more)

1

0.5%

3

1.5%

6

3.0%

39

19.5%

65

32.5%

36

18.0%

50

25.0%

Question 2: What age are your children?

Respondents were asked to choose all answers that applied to them. There was a good response rate from parents with children under 10. Over half (55.5%) have children aged between 3 and 5, two in five (42.5%) aged 6-9 and a similar number (39.0%) aged 0-2. There was a lower response rate from parents with children aged 10 and over. However, 17.5% have children aged 10-12, 9% aged 13-14 and just 4.5% aged 15-16.

Age

Total

Percent

0-2

78

39.0%

3-5

111

55.5%

6-9

85

42.5%

10-12

35

17.5%

13-14

18

9.0%

15-16

9

4.5%

Not Answered

2

1.0%

Question 3: When visiting the play area, how long do you normally stay for?

Three out of five respondents (60.5%) normally use the play area for between 30 minutes to an hour, while just under a third (30.5%) usually use it for 1 to 2 hours. Fewer than one in ten (8%) use it for less than 30 minutes, while none use it for more than 2 hours.

Length of stay

Total

Percent

Under 30 minutes

16

8.0%

30 minutes to an hour

121

60.5%

1 to 2 hours

61

30.5%

3 to 4 hours

0

0%

All day

0

0%

Dont use

2

1.0%

Not Answered

0

0%

Question 4: How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your experience when using the play area?

More than one in two (58%) respondents were satisfied (very/fairly) with their experience when using the play area. On the other hand, just over one in five (22.5%) said that they were dissatisfied with their experience. 18.5% said that they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Respondents were given the opportunity to give comments to this question, with 110 taking the opportunity to do so. For analytical purposes these comments have been grouped into themes. Almost half of them (50 comments) mentioned that the park was in need of repair/a revamp as a lot of the equipment was looking tired and worn. Other frequently mentioned themes were; the need for more picnic benches/seating, the need for a wider range of equipment for all age groups and disabilities, more equipment for toddlers and that there is a problem with older children and teenagers in the park.

There were also some more positive comments stating that the current equipment is good and that they enjoy using the play area.

All comments can be viewed in full on page 13.

Satisfaction

Total

Percent

Very satisfied

18

9.0%

Fairly satisfied

98

49.0%

Neither/nor

37

18.5%

Fairly dissatisfied

36

18.0%

Very dissatisfied

9

4.5%

Dont know

2

1.0%

Not Answered

0

0%

Childrens play area

There are a variety of different equipment in the play area. These pictures show some of the equipment to help respondents answer the next question.

Question 5: When using the current play area, what is the childrens favourite piece of play equipment?

The most popular piece of play equipment is number 2, with over a third (37.5%) or respondents saying that this was their childrens favourite piece. More than a quarter (27.5%) preferred number one, while numbers 3 (18%) and 4 (11.5%) were less popular. Numbers 5 and 6 were the least popular pieces of equipment in the play area.

Equipment no.

Total

Percent

1

55

27.5%

2

75

37.5%

3

36

18.0%

4

23

11.5%

5

3

1.5%

6

1

0.5%

Not Answered

7

3.5%

Question 6: When playing, how much do the children enjoy the following?

Respondents were given a list of numerous playground type activities, and asked to rate how much the children they take to the play area enjoys each one. As can be seen from the chart, almost all activities received a high percentage of enjoy/really enjoy answers.

Looking at the activities the children really enjoyed; Sliding (59.5%), climbing (57%), being challenged (48%), using their imagination (50%) and confidence building (35%) were the top five most popular. The only activities that respondents feel their children arent interested in or dont enjoy are chilling and relaxing and rocking.

Respondents were also given the opportunity to give any other comments they had to this question. There were 25 in total, with the majority requesting various types of play equipment for various ages be installed.

All comments can be viewed in full on page 18.

Really enjoy

Enjoy

Not interested

Dont enjoy

Really dont enjoy

Dont know

Not Answered

Sliding

119

59.5%

69

34.5%

6

3.0%

0

0%

0

0%

1

0.5%

5

2.5%

Climbing

114

57.0%

72

36.0%

7

3.5%

0

0%

0

0%

2

1.0%

5

2.5%

Being challenged

96

48.0%

84

42.0%

10

5.0%

1

0.5%

0

0%

1

0.5%

8

4.0%

Using their imagination

100

50.0%

73

36.5%

12

6.0%

0

0%

1

0.5%

4

2.0%

10

5.0%

Confidence building

70

35.0%

103

51.5%

12

6.0%

3

1.5%

0

0%

5

2.5%

7

3.5%

Rotating

62

31.0%

100

50.0%

23

11.5%

1

0.5%

1

0.5%

4

2.0%

9

4.5%

Making friends

63

31.5%

95

47.5%

27

13.5%

0

0%

1

0.5%

6

3.0%

8

4.0%

Swinging on own

70

35.0%

83

41.5%

31

15.5%

0

0%

1

0.5%

9

4.5%

6

3.0%

Balancing

50

25.0%

92

46.0%

39

19.5%

5

2.5%

1

0.5%

3

1.5%