A £13 million redevelopment and regeneration of the St Anns district in Nottingham is about to take an important step forward with the opening of the innovative new Heskey Park play area. This state-of-the-art playground is the first of its kind in Nottingham as it is designed to enhance children's learning and development through 'natural play'. It provides an innovative blend of traditional and natural play features that present a certain amount of risk and challenge to all ages and abilities.

A ground-breaking new playground is to be opened on Friday in Heskey Park, St Ann's. The two year, £250,000 project was designed and built in consultation with local residents who were invited to participate in numerous public consultations leading up to the build phase of the project. As part of these activities four companies presented their designs for the park and the residents then chose their preferred design.

The residents chose a modern and bold design by June Steel and her colleagues at HAGS Play limited. The design included elements of 'Natural Play' and 'Risk at Play': Introducing elements of risk into children's play enhances their play experience without being unacceptably dangerous.

"There is growing concern about how safety is addressed in children's play provision. Fear of litigation is leading many play providers to focus on minimizing the risk of injury. The effect is to stop children from enjoying a healthy range of play opportunities, limiting their enjoyment and causing potentially damaging consequences for their development", said June Steel, Area Manager at HAGS Play.

The funding for the project has come from money earmarked for regeneration activities and an additional £100,000 was contributed by the European Community Fund.

Portfolio holder for parks and open spaces, Councillor Dave Trimble will formally open the park on Friday at 3.30pm. Local residents, students from local primary schools, community protection officers and police representatives have been invited to the opening.

Councillor Trimble said: "Along with the Breathing Spaces and the Play Strategies within the City, the development of Heskey Park marks the beginning of long term transformation for the City's open space network. We are really proud of this development and I am pleased to be here to open such a valuable asset to the community."

The innovative design of the Heskey Park playground provides for kids of all ages. The differences in levels at the site have been incorporated to create a climbing wall with a slide chute passing right through it. HAGS Play and the City Council have worked closely with the residents to ensure that the selection of equipment used in the park satisfied their wishes and met their requirements.

Simon Hunter, a parks development officer for the City Council project managed the development. He said: "The design moves away from a playspace that uses only traditional play equipment and it meets the national agenda for play by including elements of risk in play and the use of natural elements like the landscaping features."

"Working with the community and the City Council, HAGS has pushed the boundaries of children's play and fulfilled its commitment to Nottingham through its vision of providing an all-inclusive and balanced recreational environment", said Nick Tremlett, Managing Director of HAGS Play.

HAGS Play Limited is very proud of the finished result and is hoping it will be an inspirational design for other parks around the country.